Computer implemented method for processing a financial transaction and a system therefor

ABSTRACT

A computer implemented method for processing a financial transaction includes the steps of transmitting one or more documents pertaining to the financial transaction, from an intermediary server to a document store, generating an enriched data record from the one or more documents, at the first intermediary server, and adding the enriched data record into a blockchain, from the first intermediary sever, requesting generation of a token corresponding to the financial transaction, to a token server, generating the token at the token server and adding the token into the blockchain, transmitting the token to the intermediary server from the token server, and transmitting the token from the intermediary server to the document store.

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/752,711 filed Feb. 14, 2018, pending, which is the U.S. nationalphase of PCT International Patent Application No. PCT/AU2016/000279filed Aug. 12, 2016 which designated the U.S. and claims priority toAustralian Patent Application No. 2015903292 filed Aug. 14, 2015,Australian Patent Application No. 2016900239 filed Jan. 27, 2016, andAustralian Patent Application No. 2016901924 filed May 20, 2016, theentire contents of each of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to financial transactions and inparticular to a method and a system for processing a financialtransaction.

The invention has been developed primarily for use in/with financialtransactions and will be described hereinafter with reference to thisapplication. However, it will be appreciated that the invention is notlimited to this particular field of use.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A financial transaction comprises at least two parties, with a transferof currency taking place between the two parties. The currency mayinclude electronic currency and fiat currency. In either case, anyfinancial transaction includes a plurality of data associated with thefinancial transaction. The plurality of data may include paymentmetadata such as account numbers of the at least two parties, BusinessIdentifier Codes (BIC) of the financial institutions corresponding tothe at least two parties, amount of currency to be transferred and typeof currency etc. Further, the plurality of data may include regulatorycompliance documents such as KYC documents.

Generally, it is difficult to keep track of the plurality of data duringthe financial transaction. Further, it is even more difficult to ensurethat integrity of the plurality of data is maintained either during orafter the financial transaction has been completed or to evidence thatit existed at a certain point in the financial transaction process. Manysettlement systems are characterised by effective one-way transmissionof the plurality of data in any given financial transaction (for examplesystems based on SWIFT messaging). If it is subsequently discovered thatthere are deficiencies in the plurality of data transmitted, timeconsuming checking and querying operations and correspondence oftenensues before the financial transaction can be effected.

Therefore there remains, in the art, a need for improved methods andsystems for processing a financial transaction which do not suffer fromthe above mentioned issues.

Any discussion of the background art throughout the specification shouldin no way be considered as an admission that such background art isprior art, nor that such background art is widely known or forms part ofthe common general knowledge in the field in Australia or any othercountry.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provideda computer implemented method for processing a financial transaction,the method comprising the steps of transmitting one or more documentspertaining to the financial transaction, from a first intermediaryserver to a first document store, generating an enriched data recordfrom the one or more documents, at the first intermediary server, andadding the enriched data record into a blockchain, from the firstintermediary sever, requesting generation of a token corresponding tothe financial transaction, to a token server, from the firstintermediary server, via a messaging bus, generating the token at thetoken server and adding the token into the blockchain from the tokenserver, transmitting the token to the first intermediary server from thetoken server, via the messaging bus and transmitting the token from thefirst intermediary server to the first document store. The tokenprovides a pointer to the enriched data record in the blockchain. Thusthe token can used to retrieve the enriched data record at a time of anaudit.

In one embodiment of the invention, the computer implemented methodfurther comprises the step of sending a first financial messagecomprising the token, from the first intermediary server to a secondintermediary server, indicative of making a payment to a second user.

In one embodiment of the invention, the computer implemented methodfurther comprises the steps of implementing a smart contract at thetoken server; and adding the smart contract into the blockchain, fromthe token server.

In one embodiment of the invention, the computer implemented methodfurther comprises the steps of transmitting the token from the firstintermediary server to a first digital device available with a firstuser, providing the token to a second user, by the first user, providingthe token to a second intermediary server, from the second digitaldevice, transmitting the token to a second document store, from thesecond intermediary server and sending a second financial messagecomprising the token, from the second intermediary server to the firstintermediary server, indicative of making a payment to the first user.

In one embodiment of the invention, the step of generating the enricheddata record comprises extracting a plurality of attributes from the oneor more documents, at the first intermediary server and combining theplurality of attributes to generate the enriched data record, at thefirst intermediary server.

In one embodiment of the invention, the step of generating the enricheddata record comprises extracting a plurality of attributes from the oneor more documents, at the first intermediary server, de-identifying theplurality of attributes to obtain a plurality of de-identifiedattributes, at the first intermediary server and combining the pluralityof de-identified attributes to generate the enriched data record, at thefirst intermediary server. De-identification of the plurality ofattributes ensures that confidentiality of any person or entity involvedin the financial transaction is not compromised during a hacking attackon the blockchain.

In one embodiment of the invention, the step of generating the enricheddata record comprises extracting a plurality of attributes from the oneor more documents, at the first intermediary server, hashing theplurality of attributes to generate a plurality of respective hashes, atthe first intermediary server and combining the plurality of hashes togenerate the enriched data record, at the first intermediary server.Hashing provides even more protection against tampering of theft, to theone or more documents, as the hashes are irreversible.

In one embodiment of the invention, the computer implemented methodfurther comprises the step of assigning a payment risk rating to thetoken. The payment risk rating is a direct measure of the regulatory andother compliance checks involved in the financial transaction.

In one embodiment of the invention, the computer implemented methodfurther comprises the steps of transmitting one or more first requests,each comprising the token, from the first intermediary server to thesecond intermediary server, via the messaging bus, receiving the one ormore first requests at the second intermediary server and transmittingthe one or more first requests and the token from the secondintermediary server to a second document store, generating one or morefirst responses, each comprising the token, corresponding to therespective one or more first requests, at the second intermediaryserver, transmitting the one or more first responses from the secondintermediary server to the first intermediary server, via the messagingbus, hashing the one or more first requests and the one or more firstresponses at the second intermediary server to generate one or morefirst request hashes and one or more first response hashes,respectively, adding the one or more first request hashes and the one ormore first response hashes to the enriched data record in theblockchain, from the second intermediary server and receiving the one ormore first responses at the first intermediary server and transmittingthe one or more first responses to the first document store. Thiscommunication between the first intermediary server and the secondintermediary server allows the first intermediary server to execute allthe necessary compliance checks.

In one embodiment of the invention, the computer implemented methodfurther comprises the steps of hashing the one or more first responsesat the first intermediary server to regenerate the one or more firstresponse hashes and verifying the one or more first response hashes withthe blockchain from the first intermediary server, using the token.Thus, the integrity of the one or more first responses can be verifiedwith the blockchain, at any given time.

In one embodiment of the invention, each one of the one or more firstrequests are encrypted with a second public key and signed with a firstpublic key at the first intermediary server, before transmission to thesecond intermediary server and decrypted with a second private key atthe second intermediary server after reception from the firstintermediary server. Further, each one of the one or more firstresponses are encrypted with the first public key and signed with thesecond public key at the second intermediary server, before transmissionto the first intermediary server and decrypted with a first private keyat the first intermediary server after reception from the secondintermediary server. Using pairs of asymmetrical keys ensures that therequests and the responses are not intercepted during transmission.

In one embodiment of the invention, the one or more first responsescomprise one or more second regulatory compliance documents pertainingto a second user.

In one embodiment of the invention, the computer implemented methodfurther comprises the steps of transmitting one or more second requests,each comprising the token, from the second intermediary server to thefirst intermediary server, via the messaging bus, receiving the one ormore second requests at the first intermediary server and transmittingthe one or more second requests from the first intermediary server tothe first document store, generating one or more second responses, eachcomprising the token, corresponding to the respective one or more secondrequests, at the first intermediary server, transmitting the one or moresecond responses from the first intermediary server to the secondintermediary server, via the messaging bus, hashing the one or moresecond requests and the one or more second responses at the firstintermediary server to generate one or more second request hashes andone or more second response hashes, respectively, adding the one or moresecond request hashes and the one or more second response hashes to theenriched data record in the blockchain, from the first intermediaryserver and receiving the one or more second responses at the secondintermediary server and transmitting the one or more second responses tothe second document store. This communication enables the secondintermediary server to execute all the necessary compliance checks.

In one embodiment of the invention, the computer implemented methodfurther comprises the steps of hashing the one or more second responsesat the second intermediary server to regenerate the one or more secondresponse hashes and verifying the one or more second response hasheswith the blockchain from the second intermediary server, using thetoken. Similar to one or more first responses, the integrity of the oneor more second responses can be verified with the blockchain, at anygiven time.

In one embodiment of the invention, each one of the one or more secondrequests are encrypted with a first public key and signed with a secondpublic key at the second intermediary server, before transmission to thefirst intermediary server and decrypted with a first private key at thefirst intermediary server after reception from the second intermediaryserver. Further, each one of the one or more second responses areencrypted with the second public key and signed with the first publickey at the first intermediary server, before transmission to the secondintermediary server and decrypted with a second private key at thesecond intermediary server after reception from the first intermediaryserver. Using pairs of asymmetrical keys ensures that the requests andthe responses are not intercepted during transmission.

In one embodiment of the invention, the computer implemented methodfurther comprises the steps of adding the first public key from thefirst intermediary server into the blockchain and adding the secondpublic key from the second intermediary server into the blockchain.

In one embodiment of the invention, the one or more second responsescomprise one or more first regulatory compliance documents pertaining toa first user.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provideda system for processing a financial transaction, the system comprising afirst intermediary server operably connected to a network and a firstdocument store, a token server operably connected to the network, amessaging bus operably connected to the network and a blockchainoperably connected to the network. Further, the first intermediaryserver is configured to transmit one or more documents pertaining to thefinancial transaction, to the first document store, generate an enricheddata record from the one or more documents and add the enriched datarecord into the blockchain, request generation of a token correspondingto the financial transaction, to the token server, via the messaging busand transmit the token to the first document store. Further, the tokenserver is configured to generate the token and add the token into theblockchain and transmit the token to the first intermediary server, viathe messaging bus.

In one embodiment of the invention, the system further comprises asecond intermediary server operably connected to the network and asecond document store. Further, the first intermediary server is furtherconfigured to send a first financial message comprising the token, tothe second intermediary server, indicative of making a payment to asecond user.

In one embodiment of the invention, the token server is furtherconfigured to implement a smart contract and add the smart contract intothe blockchain.

In one embodiment of the invention, the system further comprises a firstdigital device operably connected to the network, a second digitaldevice operably connected to the network, a second intermediary serveroperably connected to the network and a second document store. Further,the first intermediary server is further configured to transmit thetoken to the first digital device. Further, the first digital devicecomprises a first memory and a first processor operably connected to thefirst memory, the first memory comprising a first computer program code,the first computer program code when executed by the first processor,instructs the first processor to receive the token from the firstintermediary server, provide the token to the second digital device.Further, the second digital device comprises a second memory and asecond processor operably connected to the second memory, the secondmemory comprising a second computer program code, the second computerprogram code when executed by the second processor, instructs the secondprocessor to receive the token from the first digital device and providethe token to the second intermediary server. Also, the secondintermediary server is configured to receive the token from the seconddigital device, transmit the token to the second document store and senda second financial message comprising the token, to the firstintermediary server, indicative of making a payment to a first user.

In one embodiment of the invention, for generation of the enriched datarecord, the first intermediary server is configured to extract aplurality of attributes from the one or more documents and combine theplurality of attributes to generate the enriched data record.

In one embodiment of the invention, for generation of the enriched datarecord, the first intermediary server is configured to extract aplurality of attributes from the one or more documents, de-identify theplurality of attributes to obtain a plurality of de-identifiedattributes and combine the plurality of de-identified attributes togenerate the enriched data record.

In one embodiment of the invention, for generation of the enriched datarecord, the first intermediary server is configured to extract aplurality of attributes from the one or more documents, hash theplurality of attributes to generate a plurality of respective hashes andcombine the plurality of hashes to generate the enriched data record.

In one embodiment of the invention, the first intermediary server isfurther configured to assign a payment risk rating to the token.

In one embodiment of the invention, the system further comprises asecond intermediary server operably connected to the network and asecond document store. Further, the first intermediary server isconfigured to transmit one or more first requests, each comprising thetoken, to the second intermediary server, via the messaging bus andreceive one or more first responses and transmit the one or more firstresponses to the first document store. Further, the second intermediaryserver is configured to receive the one or more first requests from thefirst intermediary server and transmit the one or more first requestsand the token to the second document store, generate the one or morefirst responses, each comprising the token, corresponding to therespective one or more first requests, transmit the one or more firstresponses to the first intermediary server, via the messaging bus, hashthe one or more first requests and the one or more first responses togenerate one or more first request hashes and one or more first responsehashes, respectively and add the one or more first request hashes andthe one or more first response hashes to the enriched data record in theblockchain.

In one embodiment of the invention, the first intermediary server isfurther configured to hash the one or more first responses to regeneratethe one or more first response hashes and verify the one or more firstresponse hashes with the blockchain, using the token.

In one embodiment of the invention, the first intermediary server isfurther configured to encrypt each one of the one or more first requestswith a second public key and sign each one of the one or more firstrequests with a first public key, before transmission to the secondintermediary server and decrypt each one of the one or more firstresponses with a first private key after reception from the secondintermediary server. Further, the second intermediary server is furtherconfigured to encrypt the each one of the one or more first responseswith the first public key and sign the each one of the one or more firstresponses with the second public key, before transmission to the firstintermediary server and decrypt the each one of the one or more firstrequests with a second private key after reception from the firstintermediary server.

In one embodiment of the invention, the one or more first responsescomprise one or more second regulatory compliance documents pertainingto a second user.

In one embodiment of the invention, the system further comprises asecond intermediary server connected to the network and a seconddocument store. Further, the second intermediary server is configured totransmit one or more second requests, each comprising the token, to thefirst intermediary server, via the messaging bus, receive one or moresecond responses and transmit the one or more second responses to thesecond document store. Further, the first intermediary server is furtherconfigured to receive the one or more second requests and transmit theone or more second requests to the first document store, generate theone or more second responses, each comprising the token, correspondingto the respective one or more second requests, transmit the one or moresecond responses to the second intermediary server, via the messagingbus, hash the one or more second requests and the one or more secondresponses to generate one or more second request hashes and one or moresecond response hashes, respectively and add the one or more secondrequest hashes and the one or more second response hashes to theenriched data record in the blockchain.

In one embodiment of the invention, the second intermediary server isfurther configured to hash the one or more second responses toregenerate the one or more second response hashes and verify the one ormore second response hashes with the blockchain, using the token.

In one embodiment of the invention, the second intermediary server isfurther configured to encrypt each one of the one or more secondrequests with a first public key and sign each one of the one or moresecond requests with a second public key, before transmission to thefirst intermediary server and decrypt each one of the one or more secondresponses with a second private key after reception from the firstintermediary server. Further, the first intermediary server is furtherconfigured to encrypt the each one of the one or more second responseswith the second public key and sign the each one of the one or moresecond responses with the first public key, before transmission to thesecond intermediary server and decrypt the each one of the one or moresecond requests with a first private key after reception from the secondintermediary server.

In one embodiment of the invention, the first intermediary server isfurther configured to add the first public key into the blockchain andthe second intermediary server is further configured to add the secondpublic key into the blockchain.

In one embodiment of the invention, the one or more second responsescomprise one or more first regulatory compliance documents pertaining toa first user.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provideda token server for facilitating processing of a financial transaction,operably connected to a network and configured to generate a token, addthe token into a blockchain and transmit the token to a firstintermediary server, via a messaging bus.

In one embodiment of the invention, the token server is furtherconfigured to implement a smart contract and add the smart contract intothe blockchain.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provideda first intermediary server for facilitating processing of a financialtransaction, operably connected to a network and a first document store,and configured to transmit one or more documents pertaining to thefinancial transaction, to the first document store, generate an enricheddata record from the one or more documents and add the enriched datarecord into a blockchain, request generation of a token corresponding tothe financial transaction, to a token server, via a messaging bus andtransmit the token to the first document store.

In one embodiment of the invention, the first intermediary server isfurther configured to send a first financial message comprising thetoken, to a second intermediary server, indicative of making a paymentto a second user.

In one embodiment of the invention, the first intermediary server isfurther configured to transmit the token to a first digital device.

In one embodiment of the invention, for generation of the enriched datarecord, the first intermediary server is configured to extract aplurality of attributes from the one or more documents and combine theplurality of attributes to generate the enriched data record.

In one embodiment of the invention, for generation of the enriched datarecord, the first intermediary server is configured extract a pluralityof attributes from the one or more documents, de-identify the pluralityof attributes to obtain a plurality of de-identified attributes andcombine the plurality of de-identified attributes to generate theenriched data record.

In one embodiment of the invention, for generation of the enriched datarecord, the first intermediary server is configured to extract aplurality of attributes from the one or more documents, hash theplurality of attributes to generate a plurality of respective hashes andcombine the plurality of hashes to generate the enriched data record.

In one embodiment of the invention, the first intermediary server isfurther configured to assign a payment risk rating to the token.

In one embodiment of the invention, the first intermediary server isfurther configured to transmit one or more first requests, eachcomprising the token, to a second intermediary server, via the messagingbus and receive one or more first responses from the second intermediaryserver and transmit the one or more first responses to the firstdocument store.

In one embodiment of the invention, the one or more first responsescomprise one or more second regulatory compliance documents pertainingto a second user.

In one embodiment of the invention, the first intermediary server isfurther configured to hash the one or more first responses to regenerateone or more first response hashes and verify the one or more firstresponse hashes with the blockchain, using the token.

In one embodiment of the invention, the first intermediary server isfurther configured to encrypt each one of the one or more first requestswith a second public key and sign each one of the one or more firstrequests with a first public key, before transmission to the secondintermediary server and decrypt each one of the one or more firstresponses with a first private key after reception from the secondintermediary server.

In one embodiment of the invention, the first intermediary server isfurther configured to receive the one or more second requests from asecond intermediary server and transmit the one or more second requeststo the first document store, generate one or more second responses, eachcomprising the token, corresponding to the respective one or more secondrequests, transmit the one or more second responses to the secondintermediary server, via the messaging bus, hash the one or more secondrequests and the one or more second responses to generate one or moresecond request hashes and one or more second response hashes,respectively and add the one or more second request hashes and the oneor more second response hashes to the enriched data record in theblockchain.

In one embodiment of the invention, the first intermediary server isfurther configured to encrypt each one of the one or more secondresponses with a second public key and sign the each one of the one ormore second responses with a first public key, before transmission tothe second intermediary server and decrypt each one of the one or moresecond requests with a first private key after reception from the secondintermediary server.

In one embodiment of the invention, the first intermediary server isfurther configured to add the first public key into the blockchain.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provideda second intermediary server for facilitating processing of a financialtransaction, operably connected to a network and a second documentstore, and configured to receive the token from the second digitaldevice, transmit the token to the second document store and send asecond financial message comprising the token to a first intermediaryserver, indicative of making a payment to a first user.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provideda second intermediary server for facilitating processing of a financialtransaction, operably connected to a network and a second documentstore, and configured to receive one or more first requests, eachcomprising a token, from a first intermediary server and transmit theone or more first requests and the token to the second document store,generate the one or more first responses, each comprising the token,corresponding to the respective one or more first requests, transmit theone or more first responses to the first intermediary server, via amessaging bus, hash the one or more first requests and the one or morefirst responses to generate one or more first request hashes and one ormore first response hashes, respectively and add the one or more firstrequest hashes and the one or more first response hashes to the enricheddata record in the blockchain.

In one embodiment of the invention, the second intermediary server isfurther configured to encrypt each one of the one or more firstresponses with a first public key and sign the each one of the one ormore first responses with a second public key, before transmission tothe first intermediary server and decrypt each one of the one or morefirst requests with a second private key after reception from the firstintermediary server.

According to a seventh aspect of the invention, there is provided asecond intermediary server for facilitating processing of a financialtransaction, operably connected to a network and a second documentstore, and configured to transmit one or more second requests, eachcomprising a token, to a first intermediary server, via a messaging busand receive one or more second responses from the first intermediaryserver and transmit the one or more second responses to the seconddocument store.

In one embodiment of the invention, the second intermediary server isfurther configured to hash the one or more second responses toregenerate one or more second response hashes and verify the one or moresecond response hashes with the blockchain, using the token.

In one embodiment of the invention, the second intermediary server isfurther configured to encrypt each one of the one or more secondrequests with a first public key and sign each one of the one or moresecond requests with a second public key, before transmission to thefirst intermediary server and decrypt each one of the one or more secondresponses with a second private key after reception from the firstintermediary server.

In one embodiment of the invention, the second intermediary server isfurther configured to add the second public key into the blockchain.

In one embodiment of the invention, the one or more second responsescomprise one or more first regulatory compliance documents pertaining toa first user.

Other aspects of the invention are also disclosed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Notwithstanding any other forms which may fall within the scope of thepresent invention, a preferred embodiment/preferred embodiments of theinvention will now be described, by way of example only, with referenceto the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a top level diagram of a system of computing devicesto which various embodiments described herein may be implemented;

FIG. 2 illustrates a subsystem of the computing devices for generationof a token, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 illustrates a subsystem of the computing devices for exchange ofrequests and responses between two intermediary servers, via a messagingbus, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates a subsystem of the computing devices for making apayment to a second user, by a first user, in accordance with apreferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates a subsystem of the computing devices for making apayment to the first user, by the second user, in accordance with apreferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates a computing device to which various embodimentsdescribed herein may be implemented; and

FIG. 7 illustrates a computer implemented method for processing afinancial transaction, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 8A is a block diagram of the entities and intermediaries involvedin a prior art electronic settlement system;

FIG. 8B is a data and funds flow according to a prior art settlementsystem;

FIG. 9A, 9B is a data and funds flow diagram according to an indicativeembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9C is a block diagram of the basic infrastructure and componentssuited for use with embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 10A, 10B, 10C comprise block diagrams of the steps in a settlementtransaction in accordance with a first preferred embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of salient characteristics of a messagingsystem 810 of the prior art as compared with the salient messagingcharacteristics of the system 1010 enabled by the code of a secondembodiment;

FIG. 12 illustrates the options for data content to be included intokens in accordance with embodiments of the invention as describedabove;

FIG. 13 provides a comparison of characteristics of embodiments of thepresent invention as compared with the prior art Swift-based messagingsystem;

FIG. 14 is a block diagram in accordance with a further preferredembodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 15A and 15B are block diagrams of an implementation of ablockchain arrangement suitable for use with the system of embodimentsof the invention;

FIG. 16 is a block diagram in accordance with yet a further preferredembodiment of the present invention and;

FIG. 17 is a detailed block diagram of the system of FIG. 10C and FIG.16;

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

It should be noted in the following description that like or the samereference numerals in different embodiments denote the same or similarfeatures.

System 100 of Computing Devices

FIG. 1 shows a system 100 of computing devices adapted forimplementation of various embodiments of the present invention.

As such, the system 100 comprises a first digital device 110 and asecond digital device 114 connected to a network 116. According tovarious embodiments, the first digital device 110 is one of, but notlimited to, a mobile phone, a desktop computer, a laptop or a tabletetc. Similarly, according to various embodiments, the second digitaldevice is one of, but not limited to, a mobile phone, a desktopcomputer, a laptop or a tablet etc. Further, the network 116 is one of,but not limited to, a Wide Area Network (WAN) or a Local Area Network(LAN). Preferably the network 116 is internet. The first digital device110 and the second digital device 114 are also able to communicatethrough a second network 112. In one embodiment of the invention, thesecond network 112 is a telecommunication network such as internet or amobile telecommunication network. In another embodiment, the secondnetwork 112 is a non-telecommunication network such as Bluetooth andNear Field Communication (NFC) etc.

Further, the system 100 comprises a first intermediary server 126 and asecond intermediary server 128 connected to the network 116. In oneembodiment of the invention, the first intermediary server 126 and thesecond intermediary server 128 represent a first financial institutionand a second financial institution, respectively. In one embodiment ofthe invention, the respective first and second financial institutionsare different branches of different of different banks. In anotherembodiment, the respective first and second financial institutions aredifferent branches of a single bank. In various other embodiments, therespective first and second financial institutions are, but not limitedto, commercial banks, investment banks, brokerages, investment companiesetc. It is to be noted that each one of the first intermediary server126 and the second intermediary server 128 may represent a system ofservers comprising web servers, application servers, database serversand gateway servers.

Further, the first intermediary server 126 is operably connected to afirst document store 132 and the second intermediary server 128 isoperably connected to the second document store 134. In one embodiment,the first document store 132 and the second document store 134 representdatabases configured to store a plurality of documents. Each one of thedocuments comprise data pertaining to a financial transaction andmetadata corresponding to the data. In various embodiments, metadatacomprises format, encoding, author, hash, verification and relationshipsto other documents.

Further, the system 100 comprises a financial messaging server 130connected to the network 116. The financial messaging server 130provides a financial messaging service between any two intermediaryservers, including the first intermediary server 126 and the secondintermediary server 128. Some of the examples of financial messagingservices include SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank FinancialTelecommunication) for cross border transactions. ACH (AutomatedClearing House) used in USA and RTGS (Real Time Gross Settlement) usedin India and Hong Kong.

Further, the system 100 comprises a token server 120 connected to thenetwork 116 and a token database 122. Further, a blockchain 124 isconnected to the network 116. Further, a messaging bus 118 is connectedto the network 116. The messaging bus 118 represents a messaging serveror a system of messaging servers configured to enable a plurality ofapplications/servers/devices to communicate with each other. In oneembodiment, the messaging bus 118 also comprises anauthentication/authorization server for authorizing the computingdevices communicating through the messaging bus 118. The detailedconfiguration of the messaging bus 118 has been described in thediscussion to follow.

Also, a blockchain 124 is connected to the network 116. Theconfiguration and/or the functioning of the first intermediary server126, the second intermediary server 128, the first document store 132,the second document store 134, the token server 120, the token database122, the blockchain 124, and the messaging bus 118 has been describedbelow in a description. The system 100 for processing a financialtransaction involves subsystems of the computing devices, which havebeen depicted by means of figures and description as following. Thedescription below has been explained with embodiments comprising afinancial transaction between a first user and a second user. In someembodiments, the first user acts as a biller/beneficiary/payee and thesecond user acts as purchaser/payer. In other embodiments, the firstuser acts as a payer and the second user acts as a payee/beneficiary.Further, it is to be noted that the first user and the second user mayrepresent any number of entities involved in the financial transaction.

In one embodiment of the invention, the first user may instruct thefirst intermediary sever 126 to process the financial transaction. Inone embodiment, the financial transaction involves generation of aninvoice for the second user and receiving a payment from the seconduser, by the first user. In another embodiment, the financialtransaction involves making the payment to the second user, by the firstuser. Specifically, the first user connects with the first intermediaryserver 126 through the network 116, using the first digital device 110.

FIG. 2 illustrates a subsystem (200) of the computing devices forgeneration of a token, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the first digital device 110comprises a first processor 210 operably connected to a first memory220. The first memory 220 comprises a first computer program code, thefirst computer program code when executed by the first processor 210instructs the first processor 210 to instruct the first intermediaryserver 126 to process the financial transaction. Further, in oneembodiment of the invention, the first computer program code furtherinstructs the first processor 210 to provide one or more documentspertaining to the financial transaction, to the first intermediaryserver 126. In another embodiment, the one or more documents are alreadyavailable with the first intermediary server 126. In yet anotherembodiment, the first intermediary server 126 is configured to generateat least one document from the one or more documents.

The at least one document may be, but is not limited to, a request forprocessing the financial transaction. The first intermediary server 126is configured to transmit the one or more documents pertaining to thefinancial transaction, to the first document store 132. In oneembodiment of the invention, the one or more documents comprise paymentmetadata such as, but is not limited to, account numbers of the firstuser (or a beneficiary), Business Identifier Codes (BIC) of thefinancial institutions corresponding to the first intermediary server126 and the second intermediary server 128, amount of currency to betransferred and type of currency etc.

Further, in accordance with an embodiment, the one or more documentscomprise one or more first regulatory compliance documents pertaining tothe first user. Some examples of the regulatory compliance documentsinclude, but are not limited to purpose of payment documents, a resultof sanctions screening and secondary identifiers such as date of birthproof, address proof or other Know Your Customer (KYC) documents.

The first intermediary server 126 is further configured to generate anenriched data record from the one or more documents and add the enricheddata record into the blockchain 124. The first intermediary server 126is configured to generate the enriched data record in multiple ways inmultiple embodiments, some of the embodiments have been elucidatedbelow.

In one embodiment of the invention, the first intermediary server 126 isconfigured to extract a plurality of attributes from the one or moredocuments. The plurality of attributes may comprise, but are not limitedto, originator attributes, beneficiary attributes and purpose of paymentetc. Further, the first intermediary server 126 is configured to combinethe plurality of attributes to generate the enriched data record. Inanother embodiment of the present invention, the first intermediaryserver 126 is configured to extract the plurality of attributes from oneor more documents, de-identify the plurality of attributes to obtain aplurality of de-identified attributes and combine the plurality ofde-identified attributes to generate the enriched data record. In yetanother embodiment of the present invention, the first intermediaryserver 126 is configured to extract the plurality of attributes from theone or more documents, hash the plurality of attributes to generate aplurality of respective hashes and combine the plurality of hashes togenerate the enriched data record.

Further, the blockchain 124 is a data structure comprising a pluralityof blocks of data. Each block of data from the plurality of blocks ofdata represents a single financial transaction. Further, the blockchain124 is configured to store data pertaining to the financial transactionin association with the token. The data pertaining to the financialtransaction includes, but is not limited to, the enriched data record, aplurality of hashes, a plurality of public keys etc. Also the blockchain124 is configured to return the data pertaining to the financialtransaction, when queried using the token.

Further, the first intermediary server 126 is configured to requestgeneration of a token, to the token server 120, via the messaging bus118. The token server 120 in turn is configured to generate the tokenand add the token into the blockchain 124. The token is stored in theblockchain 124, in association with the enriched data record. Further,the token server 120 is configured to transmit the token to the firstintermediary server 126, via the messaging bus 118. Further, the firstintermediary server 126 is configured to transmit the token to the firstdocument store 132. The token is stored in the first document store 132,in association with the one or more documents.

In one embodiment of the invention, the token server 120 is furtherconfigured to implement a smart contract and add the smart contract intothe blockchain 124. In one embodiment, the smart contract is a shared,signed and verifiable program code which is distributed and/or executedon the blockchain 124. The smart contract would run on the blockchain124 and would be stored in association with the token.

In one embodiment of the invention, before proceeding any further, thefirst intermediary server 126 may wish to perform certain “checks”, bycommunicating with the second intermediary server 128, via the messagingbus 118. For enabling communication, the first intermediary server 126is configured to generate a first asymmetrical pair of a first publickey and a first private key. Further, the first intermediary server 126is configured to add the first public key and a first address of thefirst intermediary server 126 into the blockchain 124. Similarly, thesecond intermediary server 128 is configured to generate a secondasymmetrical pair of a second public key and a second private key.Further, the second intermediary server 128 is configured to add thesecond public key and a second address of the second intermediary server128 into the blockchain 124.

FIG. 3 illustrates a subsystem (300) of the computing devices forexchange of requests and responses between the first intermediary server126 and the second intermediary server 128, via the messaging bus 118,in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.During communication with the second intermediary server 128, the firstintermediary server 126 is configured to transmit one or more firstrequests, each comprising the token, to the second intermediary server128, via the messaging bus 118. Examples of one or more first requestscomprise, but are not limited to, KYC check and payment acceptance. Inone embodiment of the invention, the the one or more first requests aretransmitted on basis of a plurality of predefined criterion. Forexample, if the first intermediary server 126 is required to make thepayment to the second intermediary server 128, the first intermediaryserver 126 may necessitate KYC check of the second user. The secondintermediary server 128 is configured to then receive the one or morefirst requests from the first intermediary server 126 and transmit theone or more first requests and the token to the second document store134. In one embodiment of the invention, the one or more first requestsare transmitted to the second documents store 134 in form of one or morefirst request documents.

Further, the second intermediary server 128 is configured to generateone or more first responses, each comprising the token, corresponding tothe respective one or more first requests. In one embodiment of theinvention, the one or more first responses are generated in form of oneor more first response documents at the second intermediary server 128.Further, the second intermediary server 128 is configured to transmitthe one or more first responses to the first intermediary server 126,via the messaging bus 118. As an extension of the example above, thesecond intermediary server 128 may then send a validation successfulresponse to the first intermediary server 126, via the messaging bus118. In one embodiment of the invention, the one or more first responsescomprise one or more second regulatory compliance documents pertainingto a second user.

Further, the second intermediary server 128 is configured to hash theone or more first requests and the one or more first responses togenerate one or more first request hashes and one or more first responsehashes, respectively. Also, the second intermediary server 128 isconfigured to add the one or more first request hashes and the one ormore first response hashes to the enriched data record in the blockchain124. The first intermediary server 126 is then configured to receive theone or more first responses and transmit the one or more first responsesto the first document store 132. In one embodiment of the invention, thefirst intermediary server 126 is further configured to hash the one ormore first responses to regenerate the one or more first responsehashes. Further, the first intermediary server 126 is configured toverify the one or more first response hashes with the blockchain 124,using the token. The first intermediary server 126 can ensure that theone or more first responses are same as the ones generated at the secondintermediary server 128.

In one embodiment of the invention, to enable secure transmission, thefirst intermediary server 126 is configured to encrypt each one of theone or more first requests with the second public key and sign each oneof the one or more first requests with the first public key, beforetransmission to the second intermediary server 128. Consequently, thesecond intermediary server 128 is configured to decrypt the each one ofthe one or more first requests with the second private key afterreception from the first intermediary server 126. In a similar manner,the second intermediary server 128 is configured to encrypt each one ofthe one or more first responses with the first public key and sign theeach one of the one or more first responses with the second public key,before transmission to the first intermediary server 126. Consequently,the first intermediary server 126 is configured to decrypt each one ofthe one or more first responses with the first private key afterreception from the second intermediary server 128.

The second intermediary server 128 may also request certain compliancechecks. Therefore, the second intermediary server 128 is furtherconfigured to transmit one or more second requests, each comprising thetoken, to the first intermediary server 126, via the messaging bus 118.Examples of the one or more second requests comprise, but are notlimited to, sender sanctions screening check. The first intermediaryserver 126 is in turn configured to receive the one or more secondrequests and transmit the one or more second requests to the firstdocument store 132. In one embodiment of the invention, the one or moresecond requests are transmitted to the first document store 132 in formof one or more second request documents. Further the first intermediaryserver 126 is configured to generate one or more second responses, eachcomprising the token, corresponding to the respective one or more secondrequests. In one embodiment of the invention, the one or more secondresponses are generated in form of one or more second responsedocuments. Further, the first intermediary server 126 is configured totransmit the one or more second responses to the second intermediaryserver 128, via the messaging bus 118. In one embodiment of theinvention, the one or more second responses comprise the one or morefirst regulatory compliance documents pertaining to the first user.

Further, the first intermediary server 126 is configured to hash the oneor more second requests and the one or more second responses to generateone or more second request hashes and one or more second responsehashes, respectively. Further, the first intermediary server 126 isconfigured to add the one or more second request hashes and the one ormore second response hashes to the enriched data record in theblockchain 124. The second intermediary server 128 is in turn configuredto receive the one or more second responses and transmit the one or moresecond responses to the second document store 134. In one embodiment ofthe invention, the second intermediary server 128 is further configuredto hash the one or more second responses to regenerate the one or moresecond response hashes and verify the one or more second response hasheswith the blockchain 124, using the token. Thus ensuring that the one ormore second responses are same as those generated at the firstintermediary server 126.

In one embodiment of the invention, to enable secure communication, thesecond intermediary server 128 is configured to encrypt each one of theone or more second requests with the first public key and sign each oneof the one or more second requests with the second public key, beforetransmission to the first intermediary server 126. Consequently, thefirst intermediary server 126 is configured to decrypt the each one ofthe one or more second requests with the first private key afterreception from the second intermediary server 128. In a similar manner,the first intermediary server 126 is configured to encrypt each one ofthe one or more second responses with the second public key and sign theeach one of the one or more second responses with the first public key,before transmission to the second intermediary server 128. Consequently,the second intermediary server 128 is configured to decrypt the each oneof the one or more second responses with the second private key afterreception from the first intermediary server 126.

The requests and the responses are transmitted in a secure manner acrossthe messaging bus 118, in form of a plurality of messages. It is to benoted that each one of the plurality of messages comprises a contenthash of all its contents to ensure that the contents have not beenaltered during transmission. The request and/or receipt time of therecipient public key are also attached to the plurality of messages.This ensures only recipient can see message contents & ensuresrevocability of public keys.

In one embodiment of the invention, the first intermediary server 128 isfurther configured to assign a payment risk rating to the token. In oneembodiment of the invention, the payment risk rating is assigned to thetoken at the first intermediary server 126 after completion of thecommunication with the second intermediary server 128. The payment riskrating provides a pointer to the regulatory and other compliance checksperformed by the first intermediary server 126 and the secondintermediary server 128. In one embodiment of the invention, the firstintermediary server 126 is further configured to add the payment riskrating to the enriched data record in the blockchain 124. Further, theblockchain 124 is configured to return the payment risk rating whenqueried with the token. The payment risk rating enables better straightthrough processing by reducing exceptions and false positives.

The token thus generated may be used to make the payment to the seconduser by the first user or making the payment to the first user, by thesecond user. FIG. 4 illustrates a subsystem (400) of the computingdevices for making the payment to the second user, by the first user. Asshown in the FIG. 4, the first intermediary server 126 is configured tosend a first financial message comprising the token, to the secondintermediary server 128, indicative of making the payment to the seconduser. The first financial message is sent through the financialmessaging server 130.

FIG. 5 illustrates a subsystem (500) of computing devices for making thepayment to the first user, by the second user. As shown in the FIG. 5,the first intermediary server 126 is further configured to transmit thetoken to the first digital device 110. In turn, the first computerprogram code instructs the first processor 210 to receive the token fromthe first intermediary server 126. In one embodiment of the invention,the first processor 210 is further instructed to provide the token tothe second digital device 114 via the network 116 or the second network112. The second digital device 110 comprises a second memory 520 and asecond processor 510 operably connected to the second memory 520, thesecond memory 520 comprising a second computer program code, the secondcomputer program code when executed by the second processor 510,instructs the second processor 510 to receive the token from the firstdigital device 110 and provide the token to the second intermediaryserver 128.

In turn the second intermediary server 128 is configured to receive thetoken from the second digital device 114, transmit the token to thesecond document store 134 and send a second financial message comprisingthe token, to the first intermediary server 126, indicative of makingthe payment to the first user. Further, the second financial message issent through the financial messaging server 130.

Computing Device

FIG. 56 shows a computing device 600. In a preferred embodiment, thecomputing device 600 takes the form of the first intermediary server126, the second intermediary server 128, the token server 120 and thefinancial messaging server 190 as described above. In this manner, thecomputing device 500 is adapted to comprise functionality forcommunication with the network 116, storage capability (such as thetoken database 122) for storing a plurality of tokens and respectivecreators of the plurality of tokens.

However, it should be noted that each one first digital device 110 andthe second digital device 114, as shown in FIG. 1, may also be depictedas the computing device 600. In this manner, the computing device maycomprise differing technical integers, such as the display device 6020,one or more human interface devices 660 and the like. In other words,the technical integers of the computing device 500 is shown in FIG. 5are exemplary only and variations, adaptations and the like may be madethereto within the purposive scope of the embodiments described hereinand having regard for the particular application of the computing device600.

In particular the steps of the computer implemented method forprocessing of a financial transaction, as described in further detailbelow, may be implemented as computer program code instructionsexecutable by the computing device 600. The computer program codeinstructions may be divided into one or more computer program codeinstruction libraries, such as dynamic link libraries (DLL), whereineach of the libraries performs a one or more steps of the computerimplemented method. Additionally, a subset of the one or more of thelibraries may perform graphical user interface tasks relating to thesteps of the computer implemented method.

The device 600 comprises semiconductor memory 610 comprising volatilememory such as random access memory (RAM) or read only memory (ROM). Thememory 600 may comprise either RAM or ROM or a combination of RAM andROM.

The device 600 comprises a computer program code storage medium reader630 for reading the computer program code instructions from computerprogram code storage media 620. The storage media 620 may be opticalmedia such as CD-ROM disks, magnetic media such as floppy disks and tapecassettes or flash media such as USB memory sticks.

The device further comprises I/O interface 640 for communicating withone or more peripheral devices. The I/O interface 640 may offer bothserial and parallel interface connectivity. For example, the I/Ointerface 640 may comprise a Small Computer System Interface (SCSI),Universal Serial Bus (USB) or similar I/O interface for interfacing withthe storage medium reader 630. The I/O interface 640 may alsocommunicate with the one or more human interface devices (HID) 660 suchas keyboards, pointing devices, joysticks and the like. The I/Ointerface 640 may also comprise a computer to computer interface, suchas a Recommended Standard 232 (RS-232) interface, for interfacing thedevice 600 with one or more personal computer (PC) devices 690. The I/Ointerface 640 may also comprise an audio interface for communicate audiosignals to one or more audio devices 6050, such as a speaker or abuzzer.

The device 600 also comprises a network interface 650 for communicatingwith one or more computer networks 680. The network 680 may be a wirednetwork, such as a wired Ethernet™ network or a wireless network, suchas a Bluetooth™ network or IEEE 802.11 network. The network 680 may be alocal area network (LAN), such as a home or office computer network, ora wide area network (WAN), such as the Internet or private WAN.

The device 600 comprises an arithmetic logic unit or processor 6000 forperforming the computer program code instructions. The processor 6000may be a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) or complex instructionset computer (CISC) processor or the like. The device 600 furthercomprises a storage device 6030, such as a magnetic disk hard drive or asolid state disk drive.

Computer program code instructions may be loaded into the storage device6030 from the storage media 620 using the storage medium reader 630 orfrom the network 680 using network interface 650. During the bootstrapphase, an operating system and one or more software applications areloaded from the storage device 6030 into the memory 610. During thefetch-decode-execute cycle, the processor 6000 fetches computer programcode instructions from memory 610, decodes the instructions into machinecode, executes the instructions and stores one or more intermediateresults in memory 600.

In this manner, the instructions stored in the memory 610, whenretrieved and executed by the processor 6000, may configure thecomputing device 600 as a special-purpose machine that may perform thefunctions described herein.

The device 600 also comprises a video interface 6010 for conveying videosignals to a display device 6020, such as a liquid crystal display(LCD), cathode-ray tube (CRT) or similar display device.

The device 600 also comprises a communication bus subsystem 665 forinterconnecting the various devices described above. The bus subsystem665 may offer parallel connectivity such as Industry StandardArchitecture (ISA), conventional Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI)and the like or serial connectivity such as PCI Express (PCIe), SerialAdvanced Technology Attachment (Serial ATA) and the like.

Embodiments of the Method

FIG. 7 illustrates a computer implemented method 700 for processing afinancial transaction in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention. As described above, the financial transaction is assumed tobe taking place between the first user and the second user. The methodbegins at step 710 by transmitting the one or more documents pertainingto the financial transaction, from the first intermediary server 126 tothe first document store 132. In one embodiment of the invention, theone or more documents are provided to the first intermediary server 126by the first user, from the first digital device 110. In anotherembodiment, the one or more documents are already available with thefirst intermediary server 126. In yet another embodiment, the at leastone document from the one or more documents is generated at the firstintermediary server 126.

At step 720, the enriched data record is generated from the one or moredocuments, at the first intermediary server 126. Further, the enricheddata record is added into the blockchain 124, from the firstintermediary server 126. The enriched data record may be generated indifferent manners in different embodiments. Some of the embodiments havebeen discussed below.

In one embodiment of the invention, the plurality of attributes areextracted from the one or more documents, at the first intermediaryserver 126. Further, the plurality of attributes are combined togenerate the enriched data record at the first intermediary server 126.

In another embodiment, the plurality of attributes are extracted fromthe one or more documents, at the first intermediary server 126.Further, the plurality of attributes are de-identified to obtain theplurality of de-identified attributes at the first intermediary server126. The de-identification of the plurality of attributes comprisesremoval of any information from the plurality of attributes which maylink the plurality of attributes to the first user or the second user.This is to ensure the confidentiality of the first user and the seconduser, in case the enriched data record is accessed through illegalroutes. The plurality of de-identified attributes are then combined, atthe first intermediary server 126, to generate the enriched data record.

In yet another embodiment, the plurality of attributes are extractedfrom the one or more documents, at the first intermediary server 126.Further, the plurality of attributes are hashed to generate theplurality of respective hashes, at the first intermediary server 126.The plurality of hashes are then combined to generate the enriched datarecord, at the first intermediary server 126.

At step 730, the token server 120 is requested to generate the tokencorresponding to the financial transaction, from the first intermediaryserver 126, via the messaging bus 118. At step 740, the token isgenerated at the token server 120. Further, the token is added into theblockchain 124, from the token server 120. At step 750, the token istransmitted from the token server 120 to the first intermediary server126. At step 760, the token is transmitted from the first intermediaryserver 126 to the first document store 132. Further, the token is storedin association with the one or more documents, in the first documentstore 132.

In one embodiment of the invention, the smart contract is implemented atthe token server 120. Further, the smart contract is added into theblockchain, from the token server 120.

In one embodiment of the invention, the first intermediary server 126communicates with the second intermediary server 128, via the messagingbus 118. The communication may take place for verification andvalidation of the first user and the second user. In one embodiment ofthe invention, the first asymmetrical pair of the first public key andthe first private key is generated at the first intermediary server 126.Further, the first public key and the first address of the firstintermediary server 126 are added into the blockchain 124, from thefirst intermediary server 126. Similarly, the second asymmetrical pairof the second public key and the second private key is generated at thesecond intermediary server. Further, the second public key and thesecond address of the second intermediary server 128 are added into theblockchain 124, from the second intermediary server 128.

In one embodiment, during communication, the one or more first requests,each comprising the token, are transmitted from the first intermediaryserver 126 to the second intermediary server 128, via the messaging bus118. Further, the one or more first requests are received at the secondintermediary server 128 and the one or more first requests and the tokenare transmitted from the second intermediary server 128 to a seconddocument store 134. Further, one or more first responses, eachcomprising the token, corresponding to the respective one or more firstrequests, are generated at the second intermediary server 128. Further,the one or more first responses are transmitted from the secondintermediary server 128 to the first intermediary server 126, via themessaging bus 118. Further, the one or more first requests and the oneor more first responses are hashed at the second intermediary server 128to generate one or more first request hashes and one or more firstresponse hashes, respectively. Further, the one or more first requesthashes and the one or more first response hashes are added to theenriched data record in the blockchain 124, from the second intermediaryserver 128. Also, the one or more first responses are received at thefirst intermediary server 126 and transmitted to the first documentstore 132.

In one embodiment of the invention, the one or more first responsescomprise the one or more second regulatory compliance documentspertaining to the second user. Further, in one embodiment of theinvention, the one or more first responses are hashed at the firstintermediary server 126 to regenerate the one or more first responsehashes. Also, the one or more first response hashes are verified withthe blockchain 124 from the first intermediary server 126, using thetoken.

In one embodiment of the invention, for secure communication, each oneof the one or more first requests are encrypted with the second publickey and signed with the first public key at the first intermediaryserver 126, before transmission to the second intermediary server 128.Consequently, the each one of the one or more first requests aredecrypted with the second private key at the second intermediary server128 after reception from the first intermediary server 126. Similarly,each one of the one or more first responses are encrypted with the firstpublic key and signed with the second public key at the secondintermediary server 128, before transmission to the first intermediaryserver 126. Also, consequently, the each one of the one or more firstresponses are decrypted with the first private key at the firstintermediary server 126 after reception from the second intermediaryserver 128.

Similarly, in the present and various other embodiments, duringcommunication, the one or more second requests, each comprising thetoken, are transmitted from the second intermediary server 128 to thefirst intermediary server 126, via the messaging bus 118. Further, theone or more second requests are received at the first intermediaryserver 126 and the one or more second requests are transmitted from thefirst intermediary server 126 to the first document store 132. Further,one or more second responses, each comprising the token, correspondingto the respective one or more second requests, are generated at thefirst intermediary server 126. Further, the one or more second responsesare transmitted from the first intermediary server 126 to the secondintermediary server 128, via the messaging bus 118. Further, the one ormore second requests and the one or more second responses are hashed atthe first intermediary server 126 to generate one or more second requesthashes and one or more second response hashes, respectively. Further,the one or more second request hashes and the one or more secondresponse hashes are added to the enriched data record in the blockchain124, from the first intermediary server 126. Also, the one or moresecond responses are received at the second intermediary server 128 andtransmitted to the second document store 134.

In one embodiment of the invention, the one or more second responsescomprise the one or more first regulatory compliance documentspertaining to the first user. Further, in one embodiment, the one ormore second responses are hashed at the second intermediary server 128to regenerate the one or more second response hashes. Also, the one ormore second response hashes are verified with the blockchain 124 fromthe second intermediary server 128, using the token.

In one embodiment of the invention, for secure communication, each oneof the one or more second requests are encrypted with the first publickey and signed with the second public key at the second intermediaryserver 128, before transmission to the first intermediary server 126.Consequently, the each one of the one or more second requests aredecrypted with the first private key at the first intermediary server126 after reception from the second intermediary server 128. Similarly,each one of the one or more second responses are encrypted with thesecond public key and signed with the first public key at the firstintermediary server 126, before transmission to the second intermediaryserver 128, and decrypted with the second private key at the secondintermediary server 128 after reception from the first intermediaryserver 126.

In one embodiment of the invention, the payment risk rating is assignedto the token, at the first intermediary server 126. Further, the paymentrisk rating is added to the enriched data record in the blockchain 124,from the first intermediary server 126.

In one embodiment, for making the payment to second user, by the firstuser, the first financial message comprising the token, is sent from thefirst intermediary server 126 to the second intermediary server 128,indicative of making the payment to the second user. Further, the firstfinancial message is sent via the financial messaging server 130.

In another embodiment, the token is transmitted from the firstintermediary server 126 to the first digital device 110, available withthe first user. The first processor 210 receives the token from thefirst intermediary server 126 and stores the token in the first memory220. Further, the token is provided to the second user, by the firstuser. In one embodiment, the token is provided to the second user bymeans of a Quick Response (QR) code printed on an invoice. In anotherembodiment, the token is provided to the second user at the seconddigital device 114 available with the second user, from the firstdigital device 110. The second processor 510 receives the token from thefirst digital device 110, and stores the token in the second memory 520.

Further, the token is provided to the second intermediary server 128,from the second digital device 114, by the second user. The secondcomputer program code instructs the second processor 510 to provide thetoken to the second intermediary server. The token is then transmittedto the second document store 134, from the second intermediary server128. Further, the second financial message is sent from the secondintermediary server 128, to the first intermediary server 126,indicative of making the payment to the first user.

PRIOR ART

With reference to FIG. 8A there is illustrated in block form the basiccomponents of a prior art settlement system. In many transactions therewill be an at least first transacting entity 811 which enters into afinancial transaction with an at least second transacting entity 812.The financial transaction may be as simple as the agreement by the firsttransacting entity 811 to sell a particular item or service to thesecond transacting entity 812. Typically the financial transaction willrequire settlement for an agreed amount expressed in a Fiat or othercurrency. In the vast majority of cases the at least first transactingentity 811 will be associated with an at least first intermediary entity813, in this instance in the form of a bank A and similarly the secondtransacting entity 812 will be associated with an at least secondintermediary entity 814 in this instance in the form of bank B. Thefirst transacting entity 811 will have a first bank account 815 at thefirst intermediary entity 813 whilst second transacting entity 812 willhave a second bank account 816 at second intermediary entity 814.Settlement of any given transaction requires instruction given by firsttransacting entity 811 to its first intermediary entity 813 to pay anagreed amount from the first bank account 815 to the bank accountcomprising second bank account 816 of second intermediary entity 814 ofsecond transacting entity 812. For these instructions to be carried outmetadata in the form of payment metadata 817 must be assembled at thefirst intermediary entity 813 sufficient and exhaustive to communicateto the second intermediary entity 814 such that the agreed settlementamount is transmitted from bank A to bank B and more particularly to thespecific accounts of the respective first transacting entity 811 andsecond transacting entity 812.

A similar transaction may be applied in reverse where the secondtransacting entity sells a good or service to first transacting entity811. In such an instance the respective intermediaries, once havingreceived the respective payment metadata 817 and exchanged that metadata817 may elect to simply pay the difference 818 electronically as betweenthe intermediaries to effect the multiple transactions. In someinstances, particularly where the financial transaction iscross-border-for example the first intermediary entity 813 is in a firstcountry whilst the second intermediary entity 814 is in a second countrythe metadata 817 may include what is known as a Swift code which is asubstantially unique identifier for each intermediary entity involved inthe financial transaction. However, for any given transaction, far moredata than merely a unique identifier for each intermediary entityinvolved in a financial transaction is required in order for theappropriate settlement amounts to ultimately be recorded in the correctaccounts and settle the financial transaction for the agreed amounts.

FIG. 8B is a data and funds flow diagram of data and funds flowaccording to a prior art settlement system at the granular level. Inthis instance, with reference to FIG. 8B like components are numbered asfor FIG. 8A a given transaction requiring settlement can be embodied asa bill 890 which will include payment data 891 and may include bankfacilitation payment data 892 comprising, in this instance, a billercode and a financial transaction code. Banks which are party to thisbank facilitation payment system permit data entry by entity B (or payerB) 812 into a database of bank B 814 by means of a bank application orweb interface 814 B. Bank B may then add additional data to formmetadata 817 which is sent to a third-party server 893 which utilisesmetadata 817 to trigger pay (settlement) of bill 890 from payer B bank814 to biller A bank 813.

Exemplary Embodiments

With reference to FIG. 9C there is illustrated a block diagram of thebasic infrastructure and components suited for use with embodiments ofthe present invention. In this instance like components are numbered asfor FIG. 8 except in the 900 series. So, for example, first transactingentity 811 becomes first transacting entity 911 in this embodiment withreference to FIG. 2C.

In this instance a settlement system 910 according to a generalisedembodiment includes at least first transacting entity 911 which entersinto a financial transaction with at least a second transacting entity912. As previously these entities are associated with a respective firstintermediary entity 913 and a second intermediary entity 914 in the formof bank A and bank B. Each of the first transacting entity 911 and asecond transacting entity 912 has a respective account 915, 916 at theirrespective intermediary entities as illustrated in FIG. 9C

In this instance, in the event that first transacting entity 911 entersinto a financial transaction with second transacting entity 912 then, atthe time of entry into the financial transaction 920, a token 921 isgenerated. In this instance the token 921 is generated by at least firstdigital device 922 communicating with a token database 923. The tokendatabase 923 generates a token comprising a data file 924 containing alldata that will ultimately be required to settle the financialtransaction 920 including any necessary identifying information for thetransacting entity is, their accounts and the intermediary entities.Settlement is effected by communication of the token 921 to bank A andthen to bank B together with the appropriate flow of funds.

With reference to FIG. 9A at the granular level a bill 990 from a biller911 directed to a payer 912 contains bill data 991 and also token dataof a token 921 residing within a code symbol 994 (in this instance a QRcode). The token data includes pointer data pointing to data 995 ontoken database 923. The data 995 combined with bank ID data 914 permitsthe creation by token database 923 of a full payment record 996 whichcan be utilised to cause settlement of the bill 990 as against payer 912via, in this instance, their respective banks 914, 913.

With reference to FIG. 9B the payment data record 996 is utilised hasfed into a settlement network such as, for example a network 997operating under the Ripple protocol thereby permitting substantiallyreal-time settlement across multiple institutions and banks.

With reference to FIG. 10 there is illustrated in block diagram form afirst preferred embodiment of the present invention by way of anon-limiting example of a financial transaction. In this embodiment likecomponents are numbered as for the previous embodiments except in the1000 series. So, for example, token 921 becomes token 1021.

With reference to FIG. 10A the financial transaction system 1010 isactivated, as for the previous embodiment, when a financial transaction1020 is entered into between at least first transacting entity 1011 andat least a second transacting entity 1012 each dealing, for the purposesof this transaction, through respective intermediary entities 1013,1014.

At the time of and as part of entry into the financial transaction 1020the first transacting entity 1011 accesses token database 1023 viadigital device 1022 executing via a web browser interface or viaexecution of an application running on a portable digital devices suchas a mobile telephone or in a further alternative as a point-of-saleterminal in order to arrange for the database 1023 to generate a token1021. In this instance the token 1021 will include better data 1024including the recipient named, BIC, IBAN, destination country, mobilenumber, currency, business type, communication, payment amount. In thisinstance the token 1021 including the metadata 1024 is stored in thetoken database 1023. In addition the first transacting entity 1011communicates the token 1021 to a digital device 1030 associated withsecond transacting entity 1012. In this instance the communication is byway of initial transmission of the token 1021 to digital device 1022which then on transmits the token via Internet 1031 to digital device1030.

With reference to FIG. 10B, when ready to settle the financialtransaction 1020 the second transacting entity 1012 “logs in” to aportal associated with second intermediary entity 1014 and communicatesthe token 1021. In this instance have the login can be executed via aweb browser associated with digital device 1030 which communicates viaInternet 1031 the token 1021 to a digital processing system 1032(including at least a processor and a memory) associated with secondintermediary entity 1014. Substantially at the same time as part ofseeking to settle the financial transaction 1020:

Notification: token database 1023 notifies second intermediary entity1014 to contact the token database 1023 from which it receives a furthertoken 1021A.

Verification: token database 1023 communicates with the processingsystem 1032 of second intermediary entity 1014 to verify that sufficientfunds are located in account 1016 as indicated in the meta data 1024 tosettle the financial transaction.

Committing payer funds: payers bank debits payers account: payers banksends notice to payer bank gateway: payers bank gateway calls tokendatabase 1023 to get approved token:

Settlement: gateway of payers bank sends by way of non-limiting exampleXRP (the native currency of the Ripple protocol) to billers bankgateway: payers bank gateway notifies token database 1023 of receipt:

Clearing: payer's bank Nostro account is debited subject to bankinstitution rules.

Examples of tokenised messages and their generation and transmission areillustrated in pseudocode at the end of the description before theclaims. Reference to “sparro” is a reference to an instance of a tokendatabasep23.

features of this embodiment include the enablement of a private,invitation only, network for banking institutions which, in a particularform, can facilitate cross-border payments thereby to enablesubstantially real-time payments at reduced processing cost.

With reference to FIG. 11 there is shown a block diagram of salientcharacteristics of a messaging system 810 of the prior art as comparedwith the salient messaging characteristics of the system 1010 enabled bythe code listed above and more broadly described with reference to theearlier embodiments.

FIG. 12 illustrates the options for data content to be included intokens in accordance with embodiments of the invention as describedabove.

FIG. 13 provides a comparison of characteristics of embodiments of thepresent invention as compared with the prior art Swift-based messagingsystem at a commercial layer 1270, a security layer 1271 and a technicallayer 1272

Embodiments of the invention can be implemented utilising the “Ripple”the framework, protocol and gateway-or more generally any blockchainbased framework. In a particular form the final settlement process canbe enabled through a Ripple frame work thereby to facilitatesubstantially real-time settlement across multiple institutions andmultiple banks.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram of a further embodiment. In this instance adistributed ledger 1381 operating on blockchain principles provides fortransmission of the tokenised message as for previous embodiments.

In this instance it will be observed that the tokenised transmissiondistributed ledger 1381 operates in parallel with conventionaltransmission between institution A and institution B.

Conventional transmission includes transmission of conventional messagesutilising the SWIFT protocol. It is also to be noted that institution Aand institution B may be subsidiaries of the same institution or mayotherwise be closely related. In the alternative they may be completelyindependent institutions.

The tokenised message as described in previous embodiments may includeinformation as typically transmitted by the SWIFT or other currentacknowledged data transmission systems for transmission of financialinformation for the purpose of transfer of funds between parties.

The tokenised message may transmit data which includes some of the datanormally included in the conventional message. In alternative forms itmay include additional data. In yet alternative forms it may includedata not transferred at all in the data normally included in theconventional message.

The aim, in particular forms, ultimately, is to improve the reliabilityof the financial transaction as between the first transacting entity andthe second transacting entity and, in some forms, to provide an enhancedcapability.

In the arrangement of FIG. 14 the data comprising the tokenised messageis transmitted via nodes 1380 within a blockchain 1381.

In summary, Bank A and Bank B might be branches of the same bank, sayHSBC HK and HSBC China (which today use SWIFT for intrabank transfers).So this system could be used within 1 financial institution.

In one form the purpose of storing the token only in the blockchain isreally to both de-identify the information in the blockchain (which iscritical for banks), and enable use of existing (SWIFT/ACH/RTGS) or newmessaging systems to send the payment instruction in tokenised format.Banks today have significant investment in existing conventionalmessaging systems and a complete abandonment of these messaging systemswould not be feasible. However settlement is still a manual process solinking the conventional messaging system to the ‘blockchain’ settlementsystem (via the token) is an important feature of this embodiment. So,in diagram 7 we include a SWIFT/ACH/RTGS connection between the twoFinancial Institutions (FIs) (or branches) for communication of thetoken, and the blockchain ledger is common. The data that is required tosettle the payment can be provided by the FI's customer or by the FIthemselves (say from a core banking system or similar).

FIG. 15 illustrates in block diagram form key components of animplementation of a blockchain structure which may be utilised toimplement the system of FIG. 14.

Each block includes verified transactions and the blockchain maintains aledger all prior transactions. The blockchain is duplicated by all thecomputers on a network.

The first block in the chain is known as the Genesis block and newblocks can be added in linear and chronological order. From any givenblock in the chain the information of this genesis block and all blocksthat led back to this one can be retrieved. A blockchain is essentiallynumerous blocks connected through hash chaining where each block iscomprised of the following (see FIG. 15);

Timestamp: provides proof that the data in a block existed at aparticular time;

Previous Hash: Essentially a pointer to the previous block;

Merkle Hash: Summary of all executed transactions;

Nonce: Individual blocks identity and is an arbitrary number which canonly be used once.

The blockchain is managed by a network of distributed nodes where eachnode contains a copy of the entire blockchain. Each node in the networkcan add blocks to the chain, where every node is adding blocks at thesame point in the chain at the same time. The more nodes that comprisethe network the harder it is to disrupt the storage of the blockchain.Unlike centralised systems which rely on a single authority, there is nosingle point of failure in these distributed nodes network. If youchange the content of a block you change its Hash.

Blockchains can be based on/operate in association with any one of anumber of protocols—for example Ripple or Stellar.

FIG. 15B shows a first step in creation of records in the block chainstructure of FIG. 15A whilst FIG. 15C shows a second step in thecreation of records in the chain structure of FIG. 15A. The chainstructures of this type may be utilised in relation to the embodimentsdescribed in this application.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram of a further embodiment wherein the paralleldata transmission capabilities of the system are further detailed ascompared with the embodiment of FIG. 14. Components are numbered as forprevious embodiments except in the 1400 series. So, for example, firsttransacting entity 1311 of the further embodiment of FIG. 14 becomes thefirst transacting entity 1411. In this instance a distributed ledger1481 operating on blockchain principles (refer description withreference to FIG. 15) provides for transmission of the tokenised messageas for previous embodiments.

In this instance it will be observed that the tokenised transmissiondistributed ledger 1481 operates in parallel with conventionaltransmission between institution A and institution B.

Conventional transmission includes transmission of conventional messagesutilising the SWIFT protocol. It is also to be noted that institution A1413 and institution B 1414 may be subsidiaries of the same institutionor may otherwise be closely related. In the alternative they may becompletely independent institutions.

The tokenised message 1490 as described in previous embodiments mayinclude information as typically transmitted by the SWIFT or othercurrent acknowledged data transmission systems for transmission offinancial information for the purpose of transfer of funds betweenparties.

The tokenised message may transmit data which includes some of the datanormally included in the conventional message. In alternative forms andmore particularly the form with reference to FIG. 16 it may includeadditional data however, in this instance the additional data 1491 istransmitted via blockchain 881 as an entry in a shared ledger 1492. Theadditional data 1491 in this instance comprises a token value 1493, afinancial transaction value 1494 a sender cheque status flag 895 and atoken state 1496. This entry 1497 in shared ledger 1492 can be accessedbased on token value 1493. In an alternative form the entry 1497 andmore particularly the token value 1493 may be secured for examplerequiring a separate key before the data can be accessed and/ordecrypted. The data in entry 1497 may comprise deidentified data therebyto ensure that no personally identifiable information is transmitted toBank (second intermediary entity 1414).

The aim, ultimately, is to improve the reliability of the financialtransaction as between the first transacting entity and the secondtransacting entity and, in some forms, to provide an enhancedcapability.

In particular, in preferred forms an element includes provision ofsystems which add additional information whereby the additionalinformation is to enrich payments with more information given theinability of existing payment systems to communicate enrichedinformation.

In the arrangement of FIG. 16 the data comprising the tokenised messageis transmitted via nodes 1480 within a blockchain 1481.

In summary, Bank A and Bank B might be branches of the same bank, sayHSBC HK and HSBC China (which today use SWIFT for intrabank transfers).So this system could be used within 1 financial institution.

In one form the purpose of storing the token only in the blockchain isreally to both de-identify the information in the blockchain (which iscritical for banks), and enable use of existing (SWIFT/ACH/RTGS) or newmessaging systems to send the payment instruction in tokenised format.Banks today have significant investment in existing conventionalmessaging systems and a complete abandonment of these messaging systemswould not be feasible. However settlement is still a manual process solinking the conventional messaging system to the ‘blockchain’ settlementsystem (via the token) is an important feature of this embodiment. So,in FIG. 16 we include a SWIFT/ACH/RTGS connection between the twoFinancial Institutions (FIs) (or branches) for communication of thetoken, and the blockchain ledger is common. The data that is required tosettle the payment can be provided by the FI's customer or by the FIthemselves (say from a core banking system or similar).

FIG. 17 is a detailed block diagram of the system of FIG. 10C and FIG.16.

With reference to FIG. 17 there is illustrated in block diagram form afirst preferred embodiment of the present invention by way of anon-limiting example of a financial transaction. In this embodiment likecomponents are numbered as for FIG. 16 in the 1400 series.

With reference to FIG. 17 the financial transaction system 1010 isactivated, as for the previous embodiment, when a financial transaction1020 is entered into between at least first transacting entity 1011 andat least a second transacting entity 1012 each dealing, for the purposesof this transaction, through respective intermediary entities 1013,1014.

At the time of and as part of entry into the financial transaction 1020the first transacting entity 1011 accesses token database 1023 viadigital device 1022 executing via a web browser interface or viaexecution of an application running on a portable digital devices suchas a mobile telephone or in a further alternative as a point-of-saleterminal in order to arrange for the database 1023 to generate a token1021. In this instance the token 1021 will include better data 1024including the recipient named, BIC, IBAN, destination country, mobilenumber, currency, business type, communication, payment amount. In thisinstance the token 1021 including the metadata 1024 is stored in thetoken database 1023. In addition the first transacting entity 1011communicates the token 1021 to a digital device 1030 associated withsecond transacting entity 1012. In this instance the communication is byway of initial transmission of the token 1021 to digital device 1022which then on transmits the token via Internet 1031 to digital device1030.

With reference to FIG. 17, when ready to settle the financialtransaction 1020 the second transacting entity 1012 “logs in” to aportal associated with second intermediary entity 1014 and communicatesthe token 1021. In this instance have the login can be executed via aweb browser associated with digital device 1030 which communicates viaInternet 1031 the token 1021 to a digital processing system 1032(including at least a processor and a memory) associated with secondintermediary entity 1014. Substantially at the same time as part ofseeking to settle the financial transaction 1020:

Notification: token database 1023 notifies second intermediary entity1014 to contact the token database 1023 from which it receives a furthertoken 1021A.

Verification: token database 1023 communicates with the processingsystem 1032 of second intermediary entity 1014 to verify that sufficientfunds are located in account 1016 as indicated in the meta data 1024 tosettle the financial transaction.

Committing payer funds: payers bank debits payers account: payers banksends notice to payer bank gateway: payers bank gateway calls tokendatabase 1023 to get approved token:

Settlement: gateway of payers bank sends by way of non-limiting exampleXRP (the native currency of the Ripple protocol) to billers bankgateway: payers bank gateway notifies token database 1023 of receipt:

Clearing: payer's bank may be a Nostro account which is debited subjectto bank institution rules.

Embodiments of the invention can be implemented utilising the “Ripple”framework, protocol and gateway-or more generally any blockchain basedframework. In a particular form the final settlement process can beenabled through a Ripple framework thereby to facilitate substantiallyreal-time settlement across multiple institutions and multiple banks.

With further reference to FIG. 17 it will be observed that the token1021, in this instance, may be conveyed between bank 1013 and bank 1014by way of a medium 1060 utilizing the SWIFT protocol or other compatibleprotocols 1050. In preferred forms the medium the medium will be anelectronic communications medium and in particular forms may beimplemented by way of a VPN established between bank 1013 and bank 1014.

Separately deidentified data 1051 A, B, C, D associated with thefinancial transaction to which the token pertains may be transmittedover a separate communication medium, in this instance internet 1031. Ina preferred form the communication medium utilizes a blockchainstructure as described earlier in this specification and thedeidentified data 1051 A, B, C, D is located within a record structure1061 which is replicated throughout the blockchain structure.

In use a sellers bank 1013 as part of entering into the financialtransaction with buyers bank 1014 will establish a SWIFT transactiontransmittable over medium 1060. Separately and preferably in parallelthe sellers bank 1013 will perform associated operations needed tocomplete the financial transaction such as verification of the buyers IDand related characteristics. Data related to these associated operationsis then placed in record structure 1061 and that record is placed intothe blockchain structure. The associated data includes deidentifed data1051 A, B, C, D.

This data is available to the buyers bank 1014 by way of the buyers banklogging into the blockchain structure and receiving the deidentifieddata which is associated with the financial transaction which isrepresented by token 1021. Thereby allowing assembly by the buyers bank1014 of all necessary data to execute the financial transaction onbehalf of the buyer and seller.

With reference to FIGS. 16 and 17 the system provides for communicationof invoice/purchase order/remittance advice information as illustrated.

It will be further observed that blockchain structures may be utilizedto provide an information layer above existing legacy systems (forexample based on SWIFT protocols and the like) and wherein theadditional information layer provides enriched information aboutpayments using the token. It is to be noted that existing systems do notprovide enriched information and, in more particular forms, do notprovide deidentified information/data for use by the communicatingparties.

The above describes only some embodiments of the present invention andmodifications, obvious to those skilled in the art, can be made theretowithout departing from the scope of the present invention.

The computer implemented method and the system for processing afinancial transaction offers a plurality of advantages. First, theinvention enables a wide variety of documents to be attached to afinancial transaction, by means of a token. The existing financialmessaging systems allow only specific information to be attached to thefinancial transaction. Further, the invention enables generation of anauditable enriched data record from the documents. The enriched datarecord is stored in a distributed ledger (or the blockchain) and can beretrieved at any time when queried with the token. Further, the enricheddata record ensures that integrity of the documents is maintained inperpetuity. Further, the documents stores enable maintaining of a stateof the token. That is, a status of the financial transaction can betracked at any time, from the respective documents stored in thedocument stores.

Other Exemplary Embodiments Definitions

Token: in this specification a “token” is a pointer to an enriched datarecord of a plurality data required to process a financial transactionand wherein the plurality of data is rendered, formatted or passedthrough an algorithm in a predetermined manner. The process ofrendering, formatting or passing through an algorithm in a predeterminedmanner is termed “tokenisation”. The tokenisation process may involveoperations such as encryption and de-identification of the plurality ofdata.

Financial Transaction: in this specification “financial transaction”refers to a trade between two parties, for example at least a firsttransacting entity and a second transacting entity and wherein the tradeis expressed in a financial form (for example in a Fiat currency or anelectronic currency-to be distinguished, for example, from a bartertransaction) which will ultimately require exchange of currency toprocess the financial transaction. In some instances the currency willbe the same on both sides of the financial transaction. In other cases aconversion from one currency to another may be required.

Personally Identifiable Information (PII): in this specification refersto information that a regulator or privacy policy will not allow to bedisclosed to a third party.

Accordingly, in one broad form of the invention, there is provided asystem for settling a financial transaction electronically; said systemcomprising:

-   -   at least a first transacting entity;    -   at least a second transacting entity;    -   at least a first intermediary entity;    -   at least a second intermediary entity;    -   in the case where the first transacting entity enters into a        financial transaction with the second transacting entity        generating a tokenised message at the time of the financial        transaction containing data needed to settle the financial        transaction;    -   initiating settlement of the financial transaction by        transmission of the tokenised message to the at least first        transacting entity.

In a further broad form of the invention there is provided a tokenisedmessage construction system; said system comprising:

-   -   a server in communication with a database and which facilitates        communications between a plurality of parties to a financial        transaction; each party having a digitised device with which to        communicate with other ones of the parties and with the server;    -   each party capable of generating a tokenised message via a        bidirectional communication with the server.

Accordingly, in yet a further broad form of the invention there isprovided tokenised message construction system; said system comprising:

-   -   a server in communication with a database and which facilitates        communications between a plurality of parties to a financial        transaction; each party having a digitised device with which to        communicate with other ones the parties and with the server;    -   each party capable of generating a tokenised message via a        bidirectional communication with the server.

Preferably the tokenised message is generated with reference to a tokendatabase located at a remote location.

Preferably the tokenised message includes at least a first data element,a second data element and a third data element.

Preferably the first data element comprises identification data for apayor, the second data element comprises identification data for a payee(biller) and the third data element comprises identification currency,denomination and value data.

Preferably a further tokenised message is generated by either anintermediary entity or the token database.

Preferably a tokenised message is generated by a bi-directionalcommunication process.

Preferably the bi-directional communication process is between the tokendatabase and an intermediary entity.

Preferably a step in producing a tokenised message involvesde-identifying data.

Preferably a step in producing a tokenised message involves adding adata element to the message.

Preferably a step in producing a tokenised message involves removing adata element from the message.

Preferably a step in producing a tokenised message involves applying analgorithm to the data elements in the message.

Preferably the token database sequences the tokenised messages.

Preferably the token database sequences the tokenised messages andtransmits the tokenised messages as payment data records to a blockchainsettlement system.

Preferably the blockchain settlement system employs the Ripple protocol.

Preferably the tokenised message includes at least a first data element,a second data element and a third data element.

Preferably the first data element comprises identification data for apayor, the second data element comprises identification data for a payee(biller) and the third data element comprises identification currency,denomination and value data.

Preferably a further tokenised message is generated by either anintermediary entity or the token database.

Preferably a tokenised message is generated by a bi-directionalcommunication process.

Preferably the bi-directional communication process is between the tokendatabase and an intermediary entity.

Preferably a step in producing a tokenised message involvesde-identifying data.

Preferably a step in producing a tokenised message involves adding adata element to the message.

Preferably a step in producing a tokenised message involves removing adata element from the message.

Preferably a step in producing a tokenised message involves applying analgorithm to the data elements in the message.

Preferably the token database sequences the tokenised messages.

Preferably the token database sequences the tokenised messages andtransmits the tokenised messages as payment data records to a blockchainsettlement system.

Preferably the blockchain settlement system employs the Ripple protocol.

Preferably a second message is transmitted between the intermediaries.

Preferably the second message is tokenised.

Preferably the second message contains conventional data.

Preferably the second message is transmitted by means of a blockchainsystem.

Preferably the second message includes information equivalent to thattransmitted by the SWIFT system.

Preferably the tokenised message includes additional information beyondthat transmitted by the SWIFT system.

The system wherein the tokenised message includes information whichverifies the security status of at least one party to the financialtransaction.

Preferably the second tokenised message includes information whichverifies the security status of both parties to the financialtransaction.

Preferably the token is conveyed by way of a medium utilizing the SWIFTmessaging system or other compatible messaging system.

Preferably the medium is implemented by way of a VPN.

Preferably deidentified data associated with the financial transactionto which the token pertains is transmitted over a separate communicationmedium.

Preferably the separate communication medium utilizes a blockchainstructure.

Preferably the deidentified data is located within a record structurewhich is replicated throughout the blockchain structure.

Preferably in use a sellers bank as part of entering into the financialtransaction with buyers bank will establish a SWIFT transaction.

Preferably in parallel the sellers bank will perform associatedoperations needed to complete the financial transaction such asverification of the buyers ID and related characteristics.

Preferably data related to the associated operations is then placed in arecord structure and that record is placed into the blockchainstructure.

Preferably the associated data includes deidentifed data.

Preferably the data is available to the buyers bank by way of the buyersbank logging into the blockchain structure and receiving thedeidentified data which is associated with the financial transactionwhich is represented by the token thereby allowing assembly by thebuyers bank of all necessary data to execute the financial transactionon behalf of the buyer and seller.

Preferably incorporating secure channels thereby permitting onlyselected entities to communicate the data to execute the financialtransaction on behalf of the buyer and seller.

Advantages

The invention is not limited to interaction between two banks only, butcan be extended to any number of banks involved in the financialtransaction. For example, the token can be included in all the financialmessages sent between a plurality of banks, and the token can be used byany bank from the plurality of banks to verify the financial transactionfrom the enriched data record, before taking any further steps in theprocess.

The messaging bus allows all the financial institutions involved in thefinancial transaction to communicate in real-time and ensure that thepayer, the beneficiary, and all the parameters corresponding to thefinancial transaction are validated. Further, encryption/decryption ofthe requests and responses using asymmetrical pairs of keys ensures thatthe transmission of the request and the responses is always secure.Further, the payment risk rating ensures better straight throughprocessing by reducing exceptions and false positives. Also, the tokenis compatible with a large array of formats, including JSON, XML, CSV,SWIFT, over a number of transports, including HTTP, FTP, AMQP, and JMS.

Interpretation

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientificterms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by oneof ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will befurther understood that terms used herein should be interpreted ashaving a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context ofthis specification and the relevant art and will not be interpreted inan idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.For the purposes of the present invention, additional terms are definedbelow. Furthermore, all definitions, as defined and used herein, shouldbe understood to control over dictionary definitions, definitions indocuments incorporated by reference, and/or ordinary meanings of thedefined terms unless there is doubt as to the meaning of a particularterm, in which case the common dictionary definition and/or common usageof the term will prevail.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Asused herein, the singular articles “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise and thus are used herein to refer to one or to more than one(i.e. to “at least one”) of the grammatical object of the article. Byway of example, the phrase “an element” refers to one element or morethan one element.

The term “about” is used herein to refer to quantities that vary by asmuch as 30%, preferably by as much as 20%, and more preferably by asmuch as 10% to a reference quantity. The use of the word ‘about’ toqualify a number is merely an express indication that the number is notto be construed as a precise value.

Throughout this specification, unless the context requires otherwise,the words “comprise”, “comprises” and “comprising” will be understood toimply the inclusion of a stated step or element or group of steps orelements but not the exclusion of any other step or element or group ofsteps or elements.

The term “real-time” for example “displaying real-time data,” refers tothe display of the data without intentional delay, given the processinglimitations of the system and the time required to accurately measurethe data.

As used herein, the term “exemplary” is used in the sense of providingexamples, as opposed to indicating quality. That is, an “exemplaryembodiment” is an embodiment provided as an example, as opposed tonecessarily being an embodiment of exemplary quality for example servingas a desirable model or representing the best of its kind.

The phrase “and/or,” as used herein in the specification and in theclaims, should be understood to mean “either or both” of the elements soconjoined, i.e., elements that are conjunctively present in some casesand disjunctively present in other cases. Multiple elements listed with“and/or” should be construed in the same fashion, i.e., “one or more” ofthe elements so conjoined. Other elements may optionally be presentother than the elements specifically identified by the “and/or” clause,whether related or unrelated to those elements specifically identified.Thus, as a non-limiting example, a reference to “A and/or B”, when usedin conjunction with open-ended language such as “comprising” can refer,In one embodiment of the invention, to A only (optionally includingelements other than B); in another embodiment, to B only (optionallyincluding elements other than A); in yet another embodiment, to both Aand B (optionally including other elements); etc.

As used herein in the specification and in the claims, “or” should beunderstood to have the same meaning as “and/or” as defined above. Forexample, when separating items in a list, “or” or “and/or” shall beinterpreted as being inclusive, i.e., the inclusion of at least one, butalso including more than one, of a number or list of elements, and,optionally, additional unlisted items. Only terms clearly indicated tothe contrary, such as “only one of” or “exactly one of,” or, when usedin the claims, “consisting of” will refer to the inclusion of exactlyone element of a number or list of elements. In general, the term “or”as used herein shall only be interpreted as indicating exclusivealternatives (i.e. “one or the other but not both”) when preceded byterms of exclusivity, such as “either,” “one of,” “only one of,” or“exactly one of.” “Consisting essentially of,” when used in the claims,shall have its ordinary meaning as used in the field of patent law.

As used herein in the specification and in the claims, the phrase “atleast one,” in reference to a list of one or more elements, should beunderstood to mean at least one element selected from any one or more ofthe elements in the list of elements, but not necessarily including atleast one of each and every element specifically listed within the listof elements and not excluding any combinations of elements in the listof elements. This definition also allows that elements may optionally bepresent other than the elements specifically identified within the listof elements to which the phrase “at least one” refers, whether relatedor unrelated to those elements specifically identified. Thus, as anon-limiting example, “at least one of A and B” (or, equivalently, “atleast one of A or B,” or, equivalently “at least one of A and/or B”) canrefer, In one embodiment of the invention, to at least one, optionallyincluding more than one, A, with no B present (and optionally includingelements other than B); in another embodiment, to at least one,optionally including more than one, B, with no A present (and optionallyincluding elements other than A); in yet another embodiment, to at leastone, optionally including more than one, A, and at least one, optionallyincluding more than one, B (and optionally including other elements);etc.

Bus

In the context of this document, the term “bus” and its derivatives,while being described in a preferred embodiment as being a communicationbus subsystem for interconnecting various devices including by way ofparallel connectivity such as Industry Standard Architecture (ISA),conventional Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) and the like orserial connectivity such as PCI Express (PCIe), Serial AdvancedTechnology Attachment (Serial ATA) and the like, should be construedbroadly herein as any system for communicating data.

In Accordance with:

As described herein, ‘in accordance with’ may also mean ‘as a functionof’ and is not necessarily limited to the integers specified in relationthereto.

Composite Items

As described herein, ‘a computer implemented method’ should notnecessarily be inferred as being performed by a single computing devicesuch that the steps of the computer implemented method may be performedby more than one cooperating computing devices.

Similarly objects as used herein such as ‘web server’, ‘server’, ‘clientcomputing device’, ‘computer readable medium’ and the like should notnecessarily be construed as being a single object, and may beimplemented as a two or more objects in cooperation, such as, forexample, a web server being construed as two or more web servers in aserver farm cooperating to achieve a desired goal or a computer readablemedium being distributed in a composite manner, such as program codebeing provided on a compact disk activatable by a license keydownloadable from a computer network.

Database:

In the context of this document, the term “database” and its derivativesmay be used to describe a single database, a set of databases, a systemof databases or the like. The system of databases may comprise a set ofdatabases wherein the set of databases may be stored on a singleimplementation or span across multiple implementations. The term“database” is also not limited to refer to a certain database formatrather may refer to any database format. For example, database formatsmay include MySQL, MySQLi, XML or the like.

Wireless:

The invention may be embodied using devices conforming to other networkstandards and for other applications, including, for example other WLANstandards and other wireless standards. Applications that can beaccommodated include IEEE 802.11 wireless LANs and links, and wirelessEthernet.

In the context of this document, the term “wireless” and its derivativesmay be used to describe circuits, devices, systems, methods, techniques,communications channels, etc., that may communicate data through the useof modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. Theterm does not imply that the associated devices do not contain anywires, although in some embodiments they might not. In the context ofthis document, the term “wired” and its derivatives may be used todescribe circuits, devices, systems, methods, techniques, communicationschannels, etc., that may communicate data through the use of modulatedelectromagnetic radiation through a solid medium. The term does notimply that the associated devices are coupled by electrically conductivewires.

Processes:

Unless specifically stated otherwise, as apparent from the followingdiscussions, it is appreciated that throughout the specificationdiscussions utilizing terms such as “processing”, “computing”,“calculating”, “determining”, “analysing” or the like, refer to theaction and/or processes of a computer or computing system, or similarelectronic computing device, that manipulate and/or transform datarepresented as physical, such as electronic, quantities into other datasimilarly represented as physical quantities.

Processor:

In a similar manner, the term “processor” may refer to any device orportion of a device that processes electronic data, e.g., from registersand/or memory to transform that electronic data into other electronicdata that, e.g., may be stored in registers and/or memory. A “computer”or a “computing device” or a “computing machine” or a “computingplatform” may include one or more processors.

The computer implemented methodologies described herein are, In oneembodiment of the invention, performable by one or more processors thataccept computer-readable (also called machine-readable) code containinga set of instructions that when executed by one or more of theprocessors carry out at least one of the computer implemented methodsdescribed herein. Any processor capable of executing a set ofinstructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be takenare included. Thus, one example is a typical processing system thatincludes one or more processors. The processing system further mayinclude a memory subsystem including main RAM and/or a static RAM,and/or ROM.

Computer-Readable Medium:

Furthermore, a computer-readable carrier medium may form, or be includedin a computer program product. A computer program product can be storedon a computer usable carrier medium, the computer program productcomprising a computer readable program means for causing a processor toperform a method as described herein.

Networked or Multiple Processors:

In alternative embodiments, the one or more processors operate as astandalone device or may be connected, e.g., networked to otherprocessor(s), in a networked deployment, the one or more processors mayoperate in the capacity of a server or a client machine in server-clientnetwork environment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer ordistributed network environment. The one or more processors may form aweb appliance, a network router, switch or bridge, or any machinecapable of executing a set of instructions (sequential or otherwise)that specify actions to be taken by that machine.

Note that while some diagram(s) only show(s) a single processor and asingle memory that carries the computer-readable code, those in the artwill understand that many of the components described above areincluded, but not explicitly shown or described in order not to obscurethe inventive aspect. For example, while only a single machine isillustrated, the term “machine” shall also be taken to include anycollection of machines that individually or jointly execute a set (ormultiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of thecomputer implemented methodologies discussed herein.

Additional Embodiments

Thus, one embodiment of each of the computer implemented methodsdescribed herein is in the form of a computer-readable carrier mediumcarrying a set of instructions, e.g., a computer program that are forexecution on one or more processors. Thus, as will be appreciated bythose skilled in the art, embodiments of the present invention may beembodied as a method, an apparatus such as a special purpose apparatus,an apparatus such as a data processing system, or a computer-readablecarrier medium. The computer-readable carrier medium carries computerreadable code including a set of instructions that when executed on oneor more processors cause a processor or processors to implement amethod. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may take the formof a method, an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely softwareembodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects.Furthermore, the present invention may take the form of carrier medium(e.g., a computer program product on a computer-readable storage medium)carrying computer-readable program code embodied in the medium.

Carrier Medium:

The software may further be transmitted or received over a network via anetwork interface device. While the carrier medium is shown in anexample embodiment to be a single medium, the term “carrier medium”should be taken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., acentralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches andservers) that store the one or more sets of instructions. The term“carrier medium” shall also be taken to include any medium that iscapable of storing, encoding or carrying a set of instructions forexecution by one or more of the processors and that cause the one ormore processors to perform any one or more of the computer implementedmethodologies of the present invention. A carrier medium may take manyforms, including but not limited to, non-volatile media, volatile media,and transmission media.

Implementation:

It will be understood that the steps of methods discussed are performedIn one embodiment of the invention by an appropriate processor (orprocessors) of a processing (i.e., computer) system executinginstructions (computer-readable code) stored in storage. It will also beunderstood that the invention is not limited to any particularimplementation or programming technique and that the invention may beimplemented using any appropriate techniques for implementing thefunctionality described herein. The invention is not limited to anyparticular programming language or operating system.

Means for Carrying Out a Method or Function

Furthermore, some of the embodiments are described herein as a method orcombination of elements of a method that can be implemented by aprocessor of a processor device, computer system, or by other means ofcarrying out the function. Thus, a processor with the necessaryinstructions for carrying out such a method or element of a method formsa means for carrying out the computer implemented method or element of amethod. Furthermore, an element described herein of an apparatusembodiment is an example of a means for carrying out the functionperformed by the element for the purpose of carrying out the invention.

Connected

Similarly, it is to be noticed that the term connected, when used in theclaims, should not be interpreted as being limitative to directconnections only. Thus, the scope of the expression a device A connectedto a device B should not be limited to devices or systems wherein anoutput of device A is directly connected to an input of device B. Itmeans that there exists a path between an output of A and an input of Bwhich may be a path including other devices or means. “Connected” maymean that two or more elements are either in direct physical orelectrical contact, or that two or more elements are not in directcontact with each other but yet still co-operate or interact with eachother.

EMBODIMENTS

Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “anembodiment” means that a particular feature, structure or characteristicdescribed in connection with the embodiment is included in at least oneembodiment of the present invention. Thus, appearances of the phrases“In one embodiment of the invention” or “in an embodiment” in variousplaces throughout this specification are not necessarily all referringto the same embodiment, but may. Furthermore, the particular features,structures or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner, aswould be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art from thisdisclosure, in one or more embodiments.

Similarly it should be appreciated that in the above description ofexample embodiments of the invention, various features of the inventionare sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, ordescription thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure andaiding in the understanding of one or more of the various inventiveaspects. This method of disclosure, however, is not to be interpreted asreflecting an intention that the claimed invention requires morefeatures than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as thefollowing claims reflect, inventive aspects lie in less than allfeatures of a single foregoing disclosed embodiment. Thus, the claimsfollowing the Detailed Description of Specific Embodiments are herebyexpressly incorporated into this Detailed Description of SpecificEmbodiments, with each claim standing on its own as a separateembodiment of this invention.

Furthermore, while some embodiments described herein include some butnot other features included in other embodiments, combinations offeatures of different embodiments are meant to be within the scope ofthe invention, and form different embodiments, as would be understood bythose in the art. For example, in the following claims, any of theclaimed embodiments can be used in any combination.

Specific Details

In the description provided herein, numerous specific details are setforth. However, it is understood that embodiments of the invention maybe practiced without these specific details. In other instances,well-known methods, structures and techniques have not been shown indetail in order not to obscure an understanding of this description.

It will be appreciated that the computer implemented methods and systemsdescribed/illustrated above at least substantially provides a manner inwhich data generated in an EHR, during an episode of care, may bede-identified (or anonymized) and provided to a user through a securechannel.

The embodiments described herein, and/or shown in the drawings, arepresented by way of example only and are not limiting as to the scope ofthe invention. Unless otherwise specifically stated, individual aspectsand components of the embodiments may be modified, or may have beensubstituted therefore known equivalents, or as yet unknown substitutessuch as may be developed in the future or such as may be found to beacceptable substitutes in the future. The embodiments may also bemodified for a variety of applications while remaining within the scopeand spirit of the claimed invention, since the range of potentialapplications is great, and since it is intended that the presentinvention be adaptable to many such variations.

Different Instances of Objects

As used herein, unless otherwise specified the use of the ordinaladjectives “first”, “second”, “third”, etc., to describe a commonobject, merely indicate that different instances of like objects arebeing referred to, and are not intended to imply that the objects sodescribed must be in a given sequence, either temporally, spatially, inranking, or in any other manner.

Comprising and Including

In the claims which follow and in the preceding description of theinvention, except where the context requires otherwise due to expresslanguage or necessary implication, the word “comprise” or variationssuch as “comprises” or “comprising” are used in an inclusive sense, i.e.to specify the presence of the stated features but not to preclude thepresence or addition of further features in various embodiments of theinvention.

Any one of the terms: including or which includes or that includes asused herein is also an open term that also means including at least theelements/features that follow the term, but not excluding others. Thus,including is synonymous with and means comprising.

Scope of Invention

Thus, while there has been described what are believed to be thepreferred embodiments of the invention, those skilled in the art willrecognize that other and further modifications may be made theretowithout departing from the spirit of the invention, and it is intendedto claim all such changes and modifications as fall within the scope ofthe invention. For example, any formulas given above are merelyrepresentative of procedures that may be used. Functionality may beadded or deleted from the block diagrams and operations may beinterchanged among functional blocks. Steps may be added or deleted tomethods described within the scope of the present invention.

Although the invention has been described with reference to specificexamples, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that theinvention may be embodied in many other forms.

Chronological Order

For the purpose of this specification, where method steps are describedin sequence, the sequence does not necessarily mean that the steps areto be carried out in chronological order in that sequence, unless thereis no other logical manner of interpreting the sequence.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

It is apparent from the above, that the arrangements described areapplicable to the industries dealing with banking, brokerages, insurancecompanies, investment companies and Unit Investment Trusts (UIT) etc.

Examples of tokenised messages and their generation and transmission

The previous, meta-data mode is first. It switches to minimal half waythrough -- Bank:HSBC >> createUserCode >> Sparro:Sparro {“id”:“User:ABCPaper”,“name”:“ABC Paper”}  (Creating Sparro User Code - Meta-data givencan be used by other banks for compliance and for confirming payee withcustomers.) -- Bank:MayBank >> createUserCode >> Sparro:Sparro{“id”:“User:XYZ Printing”,“name”:“XYZ Printing”}  (Creating Sparro UserCode - Meta-data given can be used by other banks for compliance and forconfirming payee with customers.) -- Sparro:Sparro >>createUserCode-reply >> Bank:HSBC {“id”:“User:ABC Paper”,“name”:“ABCPaper”,“code”:“65q3gdd”} -- Sparro:Sparro >> createUserCode-reply >>Bank:MayBank {“id”:“User:XYZ Printing”,“name”:“XYZPrinting”,“code”:“70wqgx6”} -- User:ABC Paper >> createInvoice >>Bank:HSBC {“amount”:{“amount”:1000,“currency”:“gbp”}} -- Bank:HSBC >>createInvoiceCode >> Sparro:Sparro{“amount”:{“amount”:1000,“currency”:“gbp”},“payee”:“65q3gdd”}  (CreatingInvoice Code - An invoice code is created by Sparro and connected to thebank.) - Sparro:Sparro >> createInvoiceCode-reply >> Bank:HSBC{“code”:“6tq6wcbad”} -- Bank:HSBC >> createInvoice-reply >> User:ABCPaper {“invoice”:{“amount”:{“amount”:1000,“currency”:“gbp”},“payee”:“65q3gdd”,“code”:“6tq6wcbad”}} Abc invoice { amount: { amount: 1000,currency: ‘gbp’ },  payee: ‘65q3gdd’,  code: ‘6tq6wcbad’ } -- User:ABCPaper >> invoice >> User:XYZ Printing{“amount”:{“amount”:1000,“currency”:“gbp”},“payee”:“65q3gdd”,“code”:“6tq6wcbad”} - User:XYZ Printing >> payInvoice >> Bank:MayBank{“invoice”:“6tq6wcbad”,“amount”:{“currency”:“GBP”,“amount”:300}} --Bank:MayBank >> sendMoney >> BankGateway:MayBank{“payer”:“70wqgx6”,“invoice”:“6tq6wcbad”,“amount”:{“currency”:“GBP”,“amount”:300}} -- BankGateway:MayBank >> getInvoice >> Sparro:Sparro“6tq6wcbad”  (Sending Payment to Invoice - The payment is sent to thebank that created the invoice.) -- Sparro:Sparro >> getInvoice-reply >>BankGateway:MayBank{“bank”:“Bank:HSBC”,“invoice”:{“amount”:{“amount”:1000,“currency”:“gbp”},“payee”:“65q3gdd”,“code”:“6tq6wcbad”}} -- BankGateway:MayBank >>transfer >> BankGateway:HSBC{“payer”:“70wqgx6”,“invoice”:“6tq6wcbad”,“amount”:{“currency”:“GBP”,“amount”:300},“id”:“ripple-1”} -- BankGateway:HSBC >>incomingTransfer >> Bank:HSBC{“payer”:“70wqgx6”,“invoice”:“6tq6wcbad”,“amount”:{“currency”:“GBP”,“amount”:300},“id”:“ripple-1”} -- BankGateway:HSBC >> transfer-reply >>BankGateway:MayBank {“success”:true,“owed”:{“GBP”:300}} -- Bank:HSBC >>getInvoice >> Sparro:Sparro “6tq6wcbad” -- BankGateway:MayBank >>sendMoney-reply >> Bank:MayBank{“payer”:“70wqgx6”,“invoice”:“6tq6wcbad”,“amount”:{“currency”:“GBP”,“amount”:300},“id”:“ripple-1”} -- Sparro:Sparro >> getInvoice-reply >>Bank:HSBC{“bank”:“Bank:HSBC”,“invoice”:{“amount”:{“amount”:1000,“currency”:“gbp”},“payee”:“65q3gdd”,“code”:“6tq6wcbad”}} -- Bank:MayBank >>payInvoice-reply >> User:XYZ Printing{“payer”:“70wqgx6”,“invoice”:“6tq6wcbad”,“amount”:{“currency”:“GBP”,“amount”:300},“id”:“ripple-1”} XYZ part-paid invoice {  “payer”:“70wqgx6”,  “invoice”: “6tq6wcbad”,  “amount”: { “currency”: “GBP”,“amount”: 300  },  “id”: “ripple-1” -- Bank:HSBC >> incomingTransfer >>User:ABC Paper{“invoice”:{“amount”:{“amount”:1000,“currency”:“gbp”},“payee”:“65q3gdd”,“code”:“6tq6wcbad”},“transfer”:{“payer”:“70wqgx6”,“invoice”:“6tq6wcbad”,“amount”:{“currency”:“GBP”,“amount”:300},“id”:“ripple-1”}} -User:XYZ Printing >> payInvoice >> Bank:MayBank{“invoice”:“6tq6wcbad”,“amount”:{“currency”:“GBP”,“amount”:700}} --Bank:MayBank >> sendMoney >> BankGateway:MayBank{“payer”:“70wqgx6”,“invoice”:“6tq6wcbad”,“amount”:{“currency”:“GBP”,“amount”:700}} -- BankGateway:MayBank >> getInvoice >> Sparro:Sparro“6tq6wcbad”  (Sending Payment to Invoice - The payment is sent to thebank that created the invoice.) -- Sparro:Sparro >> getInvoice-reply >>BankGateway:MayBank{“bank”:“Bank:HSBC”,“invoice”:{“amount”:{“amount”:1000,“currency”:“gbp”},“payee”:“65q3gdd”,“code”:“6tq6wcbad”}} --BankGateway:MayBank >> transfer >> BankGateway:HSBC{“payer”:“70wqgx6”,“invoice”:“6tq6wcbad”,“amount”:{“currency”:“GBP”,“amount”:700},“id”:“ripple-2”} -- BankGateway:HSBC >>incomingTransfer >> Bank:HSBC{“payer”:“70wqgx6”,“invoice”:“6tq6wcbad”,“amount”:{“currency”:“GBP”,“amount”:700},“id”:“ripple-2”} -- BankGateway:HSBC >>transfer-reply >> BankGateway:MayBank{“success”:true,“owed”:{“GBP”:1000}} -- Bank:HSBC >> getInvoice >>Sparro:Sparro “6tq6wcbad” - BankGateway:MayBank >> sendMoney-reply >>Bank:MayBank {“payer”:“70wqgx6”,“invoice”:“6tq6wcbad”,“amount”:{“currency”:“GBP”,“amount”:700},“id”:“ripple-2”} -- Sparro:Sparro >>getInvoice-reply >> Bank:HSBC{“bank”:“Bank:HSBC”,“invoice”:{“amount”:{“amount”:1000,“currency”:“gbp”},“payee”:“65q3gdd”,“code”:“6tq6wcbad”}} --Bank:MayBank >> payInvoice-reply >> User:XYZ Printing{“payer”:“70wqgx6”,“invoice”:“6tq6wcbad”,“amount”:{“currency”:“GBP”,“amount”:700},“id”:“ripple-2”} XYZ finished payinginvoice {  “payer”: “70wqgx6”,  “invoice”: “6tq6wcbad”,  “amount”: {“currency”: “GBP”, “amount”: 700  },  “id”: “ripple-2” }  --- SWITCHINGTO MODE: minimal --- -- Bank:HSBC >> incomingTransfer >> User:ABC Paper{“invoice”:{“amount”:{“amount”:1000,“currency”:“gbp”},“payee”:“65q3gdd”,“code”:“6tq6wcbad”},“transfer”:{“payer”:“70wqgx6”,“invoice”:“6tq6wcbad”,“amount”:{“currency”:“GBP”,“amount”:700},“id”:“ripple-2”}} --Bank:HSBC >>createUserCode >> Sparro:Sparro undefined  (Creating Sparro User Code -No meta-data is required.) -- Bank:MayBank >> createUserCode >>Sparro:Sparro undefined  (Creating Sparro User Code - No meta-data isrequired.) -- Sparro:Sparro >> createUserCode-reply >> Bank:HSBC{“code”:“dnt7gec”} -- Sparro:Sparro >> createUserCode-reply >>Bank:MayBank {“code”:“6wwpwuc”} -- User:ABC Paper >> createInvoice >>Bank:HSBC {“amount”:{“amount”:2000,“currency”:“gbp”}} -- Bank:HSBC >>createInvoiceCode >> Sparro:Sparro null  (Creating Invoice Code - Aninvoice code is created by Sparro and connected to the bank. No invoicedetails are required.) -- Sparro:Sparro >> createInvoiceCode-reply >>Bank:HSBC {“code”:“erwkax1md”} --Bank:HSBC >> createInvoice-reply >>User:ABC Paper {“invoice”:{“amount”:{“amount”:2000,“currency”:“gbp”},“code”:“erwkax1md”,“payee”:“User:ABC Paper”,“transfers”:[ ]}} Abcinvoice { amount: { amount: 2000, currency: ‘gbp’ },  code: ‘erwkax1md’, payee: ‘User:ABC Paper’,  transfers: [ ] } -- User:ABC Paper >>invoice >> User:XYZ Printing{“amount”:{“amount”:2000,“currency”:“gbp”},“code”:“erwkax1md”,“payee”:“User:ABC Paper”,“transfers”:[ ]} -- User:XYZPrinting >> payInvoice >> Bank:MayBank{“invoice”:“erwkax1md”,“amount”:{“currency”:“GBP”,“amount”:600}} --Bank:MayBank >> sendMoney >> BankGateway:MayBank{“payer”:“6wwpwuc”,“invoice”:“erwkax1md”,“amount”:{“currency”:“GBP”,“amount”:600}} -- BankGateway:MayBank >> getInvoice >>Sparro:Sparro “erwkax1md”  (Sending Payment to Invoice - The payment issent to the bank that created the invoice.) -- Sparro:Sparro >>getInvoice-reply >> BankGateway:MayBank {“bank”:“Bank:HSBC”} --BankGateway:MayBank >> transfer >> BankGateway:HSBC{“payer”:“6wwpwuc”,“invoice”:“erwkax1md”,“amount”:{“currency”:“GBP”,“amount”:600},“id”:“ripple-3”} -- BankGateway:HSBC >>incomingTransfer >> Bank:HSBC{“payer”:“6wwpwuc”,“invoice”:“erwkax1md”,“amount”:{“currency”:“GBP”,“amount”:600},“id”:“ripple-3”} -- BankGateway:HSBC >>transfer-reply >> BankGateway:MayBank{“success”:true,“owed”:{“GBP”:600}} -- Bank:HSBC >> incomingTransfer >>User:ABC Paper{“invoice”:{“amount”:{“amount”:2000,“currency”:“gbp”},“code”:“erwkax1md”,“payee”:“User:ABCPaper”,“transfers”:[{“payer”:“6wwpwuc”,“invoice”:“erwkax1md”,“amount”:{“currency”:“GBP”,“amount”:600},“id”:“ripple-3”}]},“transfer”:{“payer”:“6wwpwuc”,“invoice”:“erwkax1md”,“amount”:{“currency”:“GBP”,“amount”:600},“id”:“ripple-3”}} --BankGateway:MayBank >> sendMoney-reply >> Bank:MayBank{“payer”:“6wwpwuc”,“invoice”:“erwkax1md”,“amount”:{“currency”:“GBP”,“amount”:600},“id”:“ripple-3”} -- Bank:MayBank >>payInvoice-reply >> User:XYZ Printing{“payer”:“6wwpwuc”,“invoice”:“erwkax1md”,“amount”:{“currency”:“GBP”,“amount”:600},“id”:“ripple-3”} XYZ part-paid invoice { “payer”: “6wwpwuc”,  “invoice”: “erwkax1md”,  “amount”: { “currency”:“GBP”, “amount”: 600  },  “id”: “ripple-3” } -- User:XYZ Printing >>payInvoice >> Bank:MayBank{“invoice”:“erwkax1md”,“amount”:{“currency”:“GBP”,“amount”:1400}} --Bank:MayBank >> sendMoney >> BankGateway:MayBank{“payer”:“6wwpwuc”,“invoice”:“erwkax1md”,“amount”:{“currency”:“GBP”,“amount”:1400}} -- BankGateway:MayBank >>getInvoice >> Sparro:Sparro “erwkax1md”  (Sending Payment to Invoice -The payment is sent to the bank that created the invoice.) --Sparro:Sparro >> getInvoice-reply >> BankGateway:MayBank{“bank”:“Bank:HSBC”} - BankGateway:MayBank >> transfer >>BankGateway:HSBC {“payer”:“6wwpwuc”,“invoice”:“erwkax1md”,“amount”:{“currency”:“GBP”,“amount”:1400},“id”:“ripple-4”} -- BankGateway:HSBC >>incomingTransfer >> Bank:HSBC{“payer”:“6wwpwuc”,“invoice”:“erwkax1md”,“amount”:{“currency”:“GBP”,“amount”:1400},“id”:“ripple-4”} BankGateway:HSBC >>transfer-reply >> BankGateway:MayBank{“success”:true,“owed”:{“GBP”:2000}} -- Bank:HSBC >> incomingTransfer >>User:ABC Paper{“invoice”:{“amount”:{“amount”:2000,“currency”:“gbp”},“code”:“erwkax1md”,“payee”:“User:ABCPaper”,“transfers”:[{“payer”:“6wwpwuc”,“invoice”:“erwkax1md”,“amount”:{“currency”:“GBP”,“amount”:600},“id”:“ripple-3”},{“payer”:“6wwpwuc”,“invoice”:“erwkax1md”,“amount”:{“currency”:“GBP”,“amount”:1400},“id”:“ripple-4”}]},“transfer”:{“payer”:“6wwpwuc”,“invoice”:“erwkax1md”,“amount”:{“currency”:“GBP”,“amount”:1400},“id”:“ripple-4”}} --BankGateway:MayBank >> sendMoney-reply >> Bank:MayBank{“payer”:“6wwpwuc”,“invoice”:“erwkax1md”,“amount”:{“currency”:“GBP”,“amount”:1400},“id”:“ripple-4”} -- Bank:MayBank >>payInvoice-reply >> User:XYZ Printing{“payer”:“6wwpwuc”,“invoice”:“erwkax1md”,“amount”:{“currency”:“GBP”,“amount”:1400},“id”:“ripple-4”} XYZ finished payinginvoice {  “payer”: “6wwpwuc”,  “invoice”: “erwkax1md”,  “amount”: {“currency”: “GBP”, “amount”: 1400  },  “id”: “ripple-4” }

1. A computer implemented method for processing a financial transaction,the method comprising the steps of: transmitting one or more documentspertaining to the financial transaction, from an intermediary server ina centralized financial system to a document store; generating anenriched data record from the one or more documents, at the intermediaryserver, and adding the enriched data record into a blockchain being adistributed ledger, from the intermediary server; requesting generationof a token corresponding to the financial transaction to identify theone or more documents, to a token server; generating the token at thetoken server and adding the token into the blockchain; transmitting thetoken to the intermediary server from the token server; and transmittingthe token from the intermediary server to the document store inassociation with the one or more documents.